UK‑Pakistan Dispute Delays Deportation of Former Rosdale Groomer

Islamabad, July 5 – The case of Shabir Ahmad, a pivotal figure in the Rosdale grooming gang, is now stalled by a diplomatic quarrel between the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Pakistan has refused to recognise Ahmad as a citizen, arguing that he destroyed his Pakistani passport and therefore forfeited his nationality.

The United Kingdom, which released Ahmad after he completed a 14‑year imprisonment for raping 30 minors, points to the 1971 Immigration Act, which restricts the removal of Commonwealth nationals. Pakistan contends that the act does not apply because Ahmad is no longer a Pakistani citizen.

Ahmad arrived in Britain in the late 1960s with dual citizenship. He was sentenced to 22 years in 2012 for extensive grooming offenses; his British passport was cancelled in 2016 to facilitate a smoother deportation. Victims were promised his expulsion upon release.

A privately funded parliamentary inquiry into systemic child sexual abuse in the UK estimated that at least 250,000 girls suffered collective assault, trafficking and forced pregnancy, with many perpetrators linked to Pakistani Muslim backgrounds and allegations of institutional complicity.

The inability of the two governments to reach a consensus on Ahmad’s status prolongs the victim’s quest for justice and underscores the complexities of cross‑border legal frameworks governing citizenship, deportation and child protection.