Pakistan Stands Firm Against Repatriating Rochdale Grooming Gang Leader Amid UK Deportation Plans

PAKISTAN will refuse to take back the Rochdale grooming gang boss despite the UK’s plan to deport him.

is pushing to deport child sex offender Shabir Ahmed, 73, who has been stripped of his British citizenship.

Mahmood is now expected to unveil a way to deport Ahmed, but Pakistan is reportedly not expected to accept him Credit: Alamy Ahmed was released on July 2 after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 Credit: PA

The 1971 Act exempts Ahmed from deportation – preventing immigrants from being removed if they came to the UK before 1973 and have lived in the UK for at least five years.

Mahmood is now expected to unveil a way to close the loophole without impacting other Commonwealth citizens, including Windrush migrants from the Caribbean.

Despite the Home Secretary’s push to remove Ahmed however, is not expected to accept him.

The country is reportedly demanding the extradition of two political dissidents from the UK in order to do so.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson declined to comment on “speculation about specific proposals.”

“We are exploring every available option in this case, and that includes talking to the Pakistani authorities,” the official told reporters today.

He added: “But as we’ve set out previously, this is a complex case with both domestic and international implications.

“Any removal requires co-operation from another country to accept an individual back.

“Previous governments have experienced similar challenges in other grooming gang cases.”

It is not clear whether Ms Mahmood’s planned changes will come under separate fast-tracked legislation or as an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is due to be debated in the Commons on Monday.

A minister indicated earlier this week that the Government could consider emergency legislation.

Ahmed was released on July 2 after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12.

He had been sentenced to 19 years in .

When left HMP Leeds, the government insisted it was powerless to deport him to Pakistan.

The divorced dad-of-four arrived in the UK before 1973, meaning he is exempt from removal as a citizen.

This is despite victims of the Rochdale grooming gang saying they were promised the ring leader would be deported when he was released from jail.

Married three times, Ahmed – who has four children in the UK – has spent years fighting deportation at the taxpayer’s expense.

Until he is deported Ahmed will be housed in a bail hostel in the north of England, costing the taxpayer an estimated £120 a night.

He plied girls as young as 13 with drink and before abusing them with eight of his friends.

During his trial, he exposed his naked torso in the dock and threw a clump of chest hair on the floor, saying of one victims: “She would have seen this.”

He was also ordered to the cells halfway through his sentencing after telling the judge he was “talking s***”.

The former taxi driver, who forced his victims to call him “Daddy”, is being heavily monitored by the authorities after his release.

One victim of the grooming gang told the that survivors “were told they would all be deported once released, but not one of them has been deported”.

Using the alias “Ruby”, she said: “We need these laws to be updated. Laws need to change, and victims need to be heard.”

Using the alias “Ruby”, she said: “We need these laws to be updated. Laws need to change, and victims need to be heard.”

Ruby that the gang leader would walk free and the system cannot get rid of him.

She said she ran into another of her abusers in the supermarket, not knowing he had been released from prison.

“Amber”, not her real name, was raped and sexually exploited by Shabir Ahmed.

She said, “I’ve been let down all over again” after Ahmed’s release, blasting that she wasn’t told when he would be let out.

She said in a statement: “I am absolutely furious that no one contacted me to tell me that Shabir Ahmed was going to be released – not the Prison Service, not Victim Liaison, no one.

“I had to find out about it from the media, in the week of his release.

“For the past three nights I haven’t been able to sleep. I’ve been physically sick over this. I’ve had to ring my children’s school because I’m scared for their safety.

“He has contacts in Rochdale. They operated as a gang – so even if he stays out of Rochdale, he could still get other men to do what he wants.

“I feel like I’ve been let down all over again. Greater Manchester accepted I was a victim and that I should have been protected, but there is still zero victim support.”