Mahmood to Unveil Steps to Deport Rochdale Abuse Ringleader, Blocked by 55-Year-Old Law
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13
Mahmood to Unveil Steps to Deport Rochdale Abuse Ringleader, Blocked by 55-Year-Old Law
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13
Summary
Monday’s announcement will outline how Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to deport Shabir Ahmed, the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader freed on licence earlier this month after serving part of a 22-year sentence.
A 1971 immigration law bars deportation of some Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973, leaving Ahmed exempt despite losing his British citizenship and retaining only Pakistani nationality on paper.
Pakistan also appears unwilling to accept him, while Ahmed says he renounced Pakistani citizenship, complicating any removal even if the UK changes the law.
Ahmed is now in 24-hour staffed accommodation with a GPS tag and can be returned to prison if he breaches licence conditions; some victims said his release left them frightened and unsafe.
The government has not said how it will amend the law, and officials have suggested the process could take up to a year as Conservatives press for emergency legislation.