UK ministers have approved a £153 million aid package for Pakistan over the next three years, a move that has drawn criticism due to Pakistan's refusal to accept the return of Shabir Ahmed, a convicted grooming gang leader. Ahmed was released from prison last month after serving 14 years for a series of child sex offenses, including rape, in Rochdale.
The Foreign Office announced the aid package as Pakistan's foreign ministry stated the country had "no connection whatsoever" with Ahmed, suggesting that his time in the UK was responsible for his crimes. A spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign ministry asserted that Ahmed is a British national who spent his entire adult life in the UK and was convicted by a British court for offenses committed on British soil.
Opposition politicians have condemned the decision to continue aid to Pakistan. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for a halt to all overseas aid and new visa issuances for Pakistani citizens until the country agrees to repatriate Ahmed and other nationals convicted of grooming offenses. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel criticized the timing of the announcement, stating it was "no surprise" that the aid package was approved on the final day of Parliament's session, preventing immediate accountability.
Reform, a political group, also urged for aid to Pakistan to be stopped, with home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf calling it a "scandal" that Pakistan refuses to take back its criminals despite receiving significant British aid over two decades. He characterized the continued aid as proof that the political class does not prioritize the British people.
Ahmed, 73, was the ringleader of a grooming gang that terrorized girls as young as 12 in Greater Manchester. He was sentenced to 22 years in 2012 for 30 child rape offenses, with a separate 19-year sentence for child sex offenses and trafficking. The court heard how his gang supplied girls with alcohol and drugs before committing gang rapes. Ahmed, born in Pakistan, is believed to have come to the UK at age 14 and held dual citizenship. He was stripped of his British citizenship by the previous government and is thought to have renounced his Pakistani origins.
Ministers had been prevented from deporting Ahmed due to a 1971 law protecting certain Commonwealth citizens. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently announced plans to amend this law, stating it should not impede removal in cases like Ahmed's. However, officials acknowledge that deportation requires Pakistan's agreement.
Downing Street stated that diplomatic pressure is being applied to Pakistan at a senior level to facilitate Ahmed's deportation. A No. 10 spokesman affirmed that "everything possible" is being done to achieve this. However, Danyal Chaudhry, a member of Pakistan's parliament's foreign affairs committee, suggested that Ahmed's upbringing and circumstances in the UK shaped him.
Downing Street also clarified that the £153 million in aid is not provided directly to the Pakistani government but to charities and other organizations working within the country. These organizations are crucial for funding vital services in Pakistan, which has limited tax revenues and relies heavily on foreign aid. The Foreign Office stated the aid aims to build a "safer, more resilient Pakistan," thereby reducing "security and migration risks to the UK."