The United Kingdom is considering visa sanctions against Pakistan unless it agrees to accept the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the 73-year-old ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has formally tabled an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, seeking to disapply Section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971 for serious criminals, including convicted child sex offenders.
Home Secretary names Shabir Ahmed in Parliament
During the second reading of the Immigration and Asylum Bill on Monday evening, Mahmood directly named Ahmed, stating that the 1971 law “clearly should not be acting as a bar against removal in cases like that of Shabir Ahmed.” The Home Office confirmed that the change would also cover other high-harm foreign national offenders, such as convicted terrorists, human traffickers, and dangerous violent criminals.
However, Mahmood warned that closing the legal loophole at home does not guarantee immediate deportation. The UK still requires Pakistan’s cooperation to accept Ahmed back, with visa penalties among the options being discussed to increase pressure.
Visa penalties as leverage
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Victims Minister Catherine Atkinson suggested that the Home Secretary would apply visa penalties to compel Pakistan’s cooperation. She said: “She has been absolutely clear that this Government will take action to see Shabir Ahmed removed, and we’ve seen the success that she has had when it comes to removals in previous cases. I think she threatened visa penalties for Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless they took back illegal immigrants. And four months later, all three were co-operating.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp echoed the sentiment, stating on the same programme: “If they don’t take him back, we can say: well, we’re simply going to stop or restrict issuing visas to people from Pakistan to come here. That, by the way, should apply to any country around the world who doesn’t take back its own citizens who are criminals or here illegally.”
Background on Shabir Ahmed
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 prison. Officials have been examining ways to deport him since his release last week. The 1971 law initially forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.
Government sources believe it is unlikely that Pakistan will take back the 73-year-old child abuser unless forced to do so by hardline sanctions. The Asian country is reportedly demanding the extradition of two political dissidents from the UK in exchange for accepting Ahmed.
Government exploring all options
Downing Street said last week that the UK was “exploring every available option,” including speaking to Pakistani authorities. Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Any removal requires co-operation from another country to accept an individual back. Previous governments have experienced similar challenges in other grooming gang cases.”
