UK in talks with Pakistan about deporting grooming gang leader
UK government officials are currently engaged in discussions with Pakistani authorities regarding the potential deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the leader of a Rochdale grooming gang, to Pakistan.
Ahmed was released from prison this week after serving a sentence for multiple convictions in 2012 related to rape and sexual offences against girls as young as 12.
Holding dual British-Pakistani citizenship at the time of his conviction, Ahmed had his UK passport revoked following his sentencing.
However, victims were recently informed that Ahmed could not be deported to Pakistan due to a provision in the Immigration Act 1971, which prevents the removal of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 and have resided in the country for at least five years.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has requested the home secretary to review Ahmed's case amid calls to amend the law to permit his deportation.
Andy Burnham, anticipated to succeed Sir Keir as prime minister, has also advocated for Ahmed's deportation.
Regarding the government's progress, a No 10 spokesperson stated:
"We have raised this issue with our counterparts in Islamabad and we are committed to doing everything possible to deport foreign national offenders, and we're clear that they should have no place in this country.
As previous governments have found, this necessarily involves the agreement of the receiving country - which has not always been possible - but we are currently working across government to explore all possible options in this case."
The Prime Minister's spokesperson added that while the UK would "do everything in our power to remove" Ahmed, the case is "clearly a complex case with implications beyond this specific incident."
The BBC understands Ahmed was released from prison on Thursday and is now residing in accommodation staffed 24 hours a day, subject to GPS electronic monitoring.
The Home Office has indicated that any breach of Ahmed's strict licence conditions would result in his immediate return to prison.
Nonetheless, some victims have expressed feeling "frightened" and "unsafe" following his release.
Diplomatic challenge
Ahmed, who arrived in the UK in the late 1960s, held dual citizenship with Britain and Pakistan at the time of his conviction.
His British citizenship was revoked by the courts after his imprisonment, and it was anticipated that he would be deported upon completion of his sentence.
Victims were recently informed that the Immigration Act 1971 prevents the deportation of any Commonwealth citizen who entered the UK before 1973 and has lived in the country for at least five years.
The UK government is reportedly considering whether this legislation could be amended through changes to the Immigration and Asylum Bill currently progressing through Parliament.
Even if legislative obstacles are overcome, the government would face the diplomatic challenge of securing Pakistan's agreement to accept Ahmed's deportation, a process that has proven difficult in previous cases.
Pakistan has previously declined to accept two of Ahmed's co-ringleaders from the nine-man Rochdale grooming gang.
Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan, both stripped of their British citizenship in 2018, were not deported due to Pakistan's refusal to accept them.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp suggested the government should consider reducing foreign aid to Pakistan if it refuses to repatriate Ahmed.
He told GB News:
"If a British citizen commits a criminal offence somewhere else or is in another country illegally, of course, we take back our own citizens.
So we expect other countries, like Pakistan, to do the same when the boot is on the other foot."
Ahmed was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2012, one of nine men convicted in the Rochdale grooming gang trial for offences against children.
Police indicated that as many as 50 girls may have been victims of the gang, many of whom came from unstable, council estate backgrounds.
Judge Gerald Clifton remarked that victims were treated "as though they were worthless and beyond any respect" because they were not part of the gang's community or religion.
Greater Manchester Police stated at the time that there was no "racial or cultural" element to the crimes.
A subsequent report found that police had failed to act despite multiple concerns being raised, describing the situation as involving "serious multiple failures" by police and local authorities.
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