ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has rejected attempts by the UK government to deport convicted Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed, insisting that he remains Britain’s responsibility and must be dealt with under British law.
The comments from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry come as the UK prepares legislation designed to remove a legal barrier that currently prevents Ahmed’s deportation, following widespread political pressure after his release from prison earlier this month.
Ahmed was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2012 after being convicted of multiple counts of rape and child sexual offences as part of the Rochdale grooming gang, which exploited vulnerable girls as young as 13. He was one of nine men convicted over the abuse.
Although Ahmed was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction, he has not been deported because of provisions contained in the Immigration Act 1971. The legislation protects certain Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had settled in the country, preventing their removal.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to amend the law so that offenders convicted of the most serious crimes can no longer rely on those protections. However, even if Parliament approves the changes, Ahmed’s deportation would still require Pakistan to accept him.
Speaking to the BBC, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi made clear that Islamabad does not believe the case is Pakistan’s responsibility.
“The matter in question is entirely an internal matter of the United Kingdom,” he said.
“The individual concerned is a British national who spent his entire adult life in the UK and was duly convicted by a British court for reprehensible offences committed on British soil.”
Andrabi added that decisions surrounding Ahmed’s legal status and supervision were matters for the British authorities alone.
“Regardless of where he was born, the onus lies on where he grew up, was raised, groomed, and unfortunately spoiled,” he said.
“The government of Pakistan has no connection whatsoever with this matter.”
The remarks represent the clearest indication yet that Pakistan is unwilling to co-operate with any attempt to remove Ahmed from the UK.
Ahmed currently remains in Britain under strict licence conditions following his release from prison. He has been placed in supervised accommodation, fitted with a GPS electronic tag and can be recalled to prison if he breaches any of his licence conditions.
His release has prompted widespread criticism from politicians and victims alike, with several survivors saying they feel frightened and unsafe knowing he is no longer behind bars.
The issue has also become increasingly political.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has argued that legislation drafted more than 50 years ago was never intended to prevent the deportation of offenders convicted of crimes as serious as Ahmed’s.
Prime minister-designate Andy Burnham has also called for Ahmed’s removal, describing him as a “vile criminal” who should be deported from the United Kingdom.
Whether that can ultimately happen may now depend less on changes to British law than on whether Pakistan is willing to accept responsibility for a man it says is, in every meaningful sense, Britain’s problem.