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UK government representatives are currently engaged in discussions with Pakistani officials regarding the potential deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, to Pakistan. Ahmed was released from prison this week after serving a sentence for numerous counts of rape and sexual offences against young girls, having been initially convicted in 2012. Although he held dual British-Pakistani citizenship, his UK passport was revoked following his conviction.
Despite expectations that Ahmed would be deported after completing his sentence, his victims were informed that a 55-year-old law—stemming from the Immigration Act of 1971—prevents his removal from the UK. This legislation protects Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 and have resided in the country for at least five years from being deported. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has requested that the home secretary review the case amid calls for the law to be amended, potentially through adjustments to the ongoing Immigration and Asylum Bill being considered in Parliament.
Efforts to secure Ahmed’s deportation face diplomatic challenges, as Pakistani authorities must agree to accept his return. This cooperation has previously been difficult to obtain; Pakistan has refused to repatriate two of Ahmed’s fellow gang members, Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan, who were also stripped of their British citizenship in 2018. In response, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp proposed that the UK government might consider reducing foreign aid to Pakistan should it persist in denying Ahmed’s deportation. He emphasized the expectation that countries reciprocate in such matters: “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.”
Currently, Ahmed is residing in accommodation monitored 24 hours a day and wears a GPS tag to ensure compliance with strict licence conditions, any breach of which would lead to his immediate return to prison. Some of his victims have expressed feelings of fear and insecurity following his release. The original crimes, committed by nine men in the Rochdale grooming gang, affected as many as 50 girls, many from troubled backgrounds. At the time of sentencing, Judge Gerald Clifton remarked on how victims were treated with disdain due to not belonging to the gang’s community or religion. Greater Manchester Police stated there was no racial or cultural motive involved. Subsequent investigations uncovered significant failures by police and local authorities in addressing warnings about the gang’s activities
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