Pak refuses to accept grooming gang leader unless UK hands over political dissidents
Pakistan is refusing to accept the deportation of convicted grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed unless the UK extradites specific political dissidents. The UK government is currently seeking legal avenues to facilitate the deportation.
Why it matters
The standoff highlights complex diplomatic tensions between the UK and Pakistan regarding extradition treaties and the status of political exiles.
LONDON: Pakistan is demanding the extradition of political dissidents from the UK if Britain wants to deport freed Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed.UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to set out on Monday how she plans to change the law to allow him to be sent back.Ahmed (73), who moved to the UK in 19767 aged 14 from Pakistan Punjab, was convicted of 30 offences, including rape, sexual assault, and trafficking of girls as young as 12, in 2012. He held dual British and Pakistani citizenship when convicted.The UK stripped him of his British citizenship in 2016 yet has been unable to deport him because, having arrived in the UK before 1971, he is exempt from deportation due to Sec 7 of the Immigration Act, 1971.
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