"If they break the law they should lose their right to live here."
Four Pakistani men could be deported to Pakistan after a court charged them with sexually grooming children. Shabir Ahmed, Adil Khan, Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rauf were part of a nine-men grooming gang, based in Rochdale. They now face losing their UK citizenship.
The ruling took place on Thursday 8th February 2017.
First jailed in 2012, the men groomed and exploited young girls for sex. Some of the girls were as young as 13. It was then decided that they could be deported to Pakistan, as all men are of Pakistani nationality.
After the 2012 ruling, the men decided to appeal against being deported to Pakistan. Shabir Ahmed claimed he was appealing the decision because “11 white jurors” convicted him and suggested it’s “fashionable to blame everything on Muslims.”
However, after a long battle, the men have lost their appeal. They now could be deported to Pakistan.
The judge convicted Shabir Ahmed with charges of rape, trafficking, conspiracy and sexual assault. His crimes include presenting a 15-year-old girl (who he had continually raped) to a young man, who also raped her. He also led men to supply girls with drugs and alcohol, only to then rape them.
The court charged Adil Khan, Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rauf with conspiracy and trafficking. Ahmed is currently serving a 22-year sentence. The other three men have sentences of between six and nine years, but since have been released on license.
Will they be deported to Pakistan?
It’s not yet clear when they will be deported to Pakistan exactly. However, the government seek to have the men serve the rest of their jail sentences in Pakistan.
However, there may be some concerns in that the deportation will take a long time. Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk is calling for the government to prevent any stalling in the procedure.
Breaking: judge says #Rochdale grooming gang members must serve their sentences in Pakistan.
Result ?— Simon Danczuk (@SimonDanczuk) February 9, 2017
He also says: “We welcome many people coming to the UK to contribute, but if they break the law they should lose their right to live here.
“Foreign-born criminals should not be able to hide behind human rights laws to avoid deportation.”
It’s possible that the men may attempt another appeal. But, Simon Danczuk hopes the men will be deported to Pakistan by the Home Office as soon as possible.
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