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Pakistan Says UK Citizen Shabir Ahmed Renounced Citizenship Decades Ago and Is Not Pakistani
Shabir Ahmed, 73, was freed this week after serving 14 years for 30 child rape offences. Pakistan disputes his claim of renouncing citizenship and will not accept his return.
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Shabir Ahmed, 73, was released this week after serving 14 years in prison for 30 child rape offences, GB News reported. Pakistan has refused to accept him back, citing records that show he renounced his citizenship decades ago. Ahmed left Pakistan in the late 1960s and held dual British-Pakistani nationality.
His British passport was revoked in 2016 to allow deportation after release. He received a 22-year sentence in 2012. A provision in the Immigration Act 1971 blocks removal of certain Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering whether to scrap that section. The Home Office accepts that Ahmed believes he abandoned his Pakistani citizenship by destroying his passport. Officials maintain he did not complete the full proper process required.
Pakistani officials stated their database confirms Ahmed is not a Pakistani national. A Pakistani minister noted he left the country at around age 13 and has lived in the UK for around 60 years. Pakistan has also declined to accept Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan, two other members of the Rochdale grooming gang.
The pair sexually assaulted 47 girls over two years, some as young as 12, and plied children with alcohol and drugs. Both have had British citizenship stripped and renounced Pakistani nationality. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Britain must take a zero-tolerance approach to foreign criminals and illegal immigrants.
