Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed could be deported to a third country if Pakistan refuses to accept him, officials have indicated. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman declined to rule out transferring Ahmed to an unnamed state if deportation to Pakistan is not possible.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to present proposed legal changes that aim to alter a 55-year-old law currently preventing Ahmed's removal. The existing Immigration Act 1971 exempts foreign-born nationals who arrived in the UK before 1973 and have resided there for at least five years from deportation.
Ahmed, 73, was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2012 for multiple rape and sexual offenses against young girls. He was released earlier this month after serving 14 years of his sentence. He has since been stripped of his British citizenship and reportedly renounced his Pakistani citizenship.
Pakistan has stated it will not accept Ahmed, with officials characterizing the British government's deportation efforts as an expression of "arrogance and a colonial mindset." The UK government has suggested that if Pakistan does not cooperate, penalties such as reducing or halting visa issuances to Pakistani nationals or withholding the annual £50 million in foreign aid could be imposed.
"The country of origin must agree to take these vile criminals back and that’s why we’re working across government to explore every option in this case," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. He added that "all options remain on the table where countries don’t co-operate on the return of their nationals."
Last week, Conservative officials warned that Ahmed would "almost certainly" file human rights claims to remain in Britain, potentially using Article 8 (the right to private and family life) and Article 3 (preventing removal to places of ill-treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp noted that past cases suggest such claims have a good chance of success, which could undermine legislative efforts to deport him.
Ahmed has previously utilized the ECHR in an attempt to overturn his convictions. He filed a claim with the European Court of Human Rights in 2014, but judges declared it inadmissible in 2016.
It remains unclear if Ms. Mahmood will introduce the reforms as an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill or pursue a different legal avenue for quicker implementation. Labour MP Jim McMahon, whose constituency includes areas where some abuse occurred, has previously called for changes to the 1971 legislation, stating it was "not designed to give a free pass to a child rapist."