Rochdale grooming gang leaders may finally be deported to Pakistan
Pakistan may finally take back two grooming gang ringleaders if the UK restores direct flights between the two countries, officials from the country's foreign office have said.
Ministers have been attempting to persuade Pakistan to drop its block on the deportation of Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan, two of the worst offenders in the Rochdale grooming gangs.
They are among at least seven of nine members of the Rochdale grooming gang who remain living in the UK.
Rauf and Khan held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but were stripped of their British nationality after being found guilty of being members of the gang. A judge ordered both men to be deported to Pakistan nearly a decade ago but both men renounced their Pakistani citizenship days before a court appeal against the Home Office order.
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