Shabana Mahmood Plans To Amend 1971 Immigration Act To Deport Rochdale Grooming Gang Ringleader Shabir Ahmed

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to amend the 1971 Immigration Act to allow the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the 73-year-old ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, after he was released from prison last week.

The BBC said Mahmood would set out on Monday how she plans to amend the 1971 Immigration Act which currently stops Shabir Ahmed being removed from the UK, and it described Ahmed as jailed for 22 years in August 2012 for child sexual offences including rape.

BBC

The Guardian reported that Mahmood’s announcement will coincide with the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill, and it quoted a government source saying, “We are confident that there is a fix to deal with the domestic side of it but it is now down to the FCDO negotiations with Pakistan that will decide if [Ahmed] stays in the UK.”

The BBC added that it is not known how long it would take to change the law, with a government source suggesting it could potentially be up to a year, and it said Ahmed was released on licence and fitted with a GPS electronically monitored tag.

In the Commons, Tory former minister Robbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley, told MPs, “When will the minister be bringing forward this legislation, so that we in this House can vote on it and make sure that this individual that has caused heinous crimes across Rochdale is deported?”

Home Office minister Alex Norris replied, “I can only be as clear to say that all of those options are on the table,” while the BBC reported that Norris told MPs the government would not give up in its efforts to deport Ahmed for his “heinous” crimes.

BBC

The Guardian said Pakistan has so far refused to take Ahmed back, and it added that the UK disputes that Ahmed renounced his Pakistani citizenship, pointing to evidence that he did not go through the full and proper process to disavow his birthright.

The Times of India reported that Pakistan has told Britain it must hand over political dissidents living in the UK if it wants Islamabad to accept the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, quoting a senior Pakistani government official saying the UK must “respect the issues that matter” to Pakistan instead of resorting to “arm-twisting” and threats.

The BBC said some of Ahmed’s victims were “frightened” by his release and felt “unsafe,” and it reported that after leaving prison he was sent to 24-hour staffed accommodation and fitted with a GPS electronically monitored tag.

“- Published The home secretary will change the law so the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang can be deported, the BBC has been told”

BBC

The Independent quoted a victim identified only as “Ruby” saying, “I’m scared for my safety and my kids’ safety,” and it reported that Ruby said victims of abuse had been given “false promises” and left to “fend for themselves” through a lack of support from the authorities.

The BBC said Ahmed is subject to strict licence conditions including exclusion zones, an electronically monitored curfew and the requirements of the sex offenders register, and it added that any breach would result in him being immediately returned to prison.

The Guardian reported that Ahmed cannot be returned to Pakistan despite having been stripped of his British citizenship, and it said the Immigration Act exempts people such as Ahmed from deportation if they came to Britain before 1973 and have lived in the UK for at least five years.