Latest news with #QariAbdulRauf
Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
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.
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Loophole that lets terrorists enter UK to be closed
Suspected terrorists will no longer be able to exploit a loophole that allows them to enter Britain despite being stripped of citizenship. Ministers are to pass legislation that will ensure citizenship is not automatically reinstated if terrorists successfully appeal against a decision to strip them of it. The loophole, identified by the Supreme Court, would mean that they could return to the UK while the Government sought to overturn the successful appeal. The terror suspects could then renounce any other citizenship that they had, which would mean that Britain would have no option but to allow them to stay in the UK and could not deport them. Under international law, governments cannot render a person stateless by stripping them of their citizenship if they are not citizens of another country. 'An essential tool' Official data suggests more than 1,000 Britons were deprived of their citizenship between 2010 and 2023, including Shamima Begum, one of three east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria in 2015 to support the IS group. She fought a series of high-profile legal battles to return to the UK after being stripped of her citizenship in 2019, but has remained unsuccessful. It mirrors the case of two Pakistani members of one of the most notorious grooming gangs in Rotherham, whom the Government stripped of their British citizenship. Qari Abdul Rauf, a 55-year-old father of five and Adil Khan, 54, were jailed for their part in sexually assaulting 47 girls. They subsequently renounced their Pakistani citizenship, effectively declaring themselves stateless. Pakistan is refusing to take them back on the basis that they have renounced their citizenship and are regarded as dangerous criminals. Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said: 'Protecting our national security and keeping the British public safe is the first duty of this government and the foundation of our Plan for Change. The power to deprive someone of their British citizenship is an essential tool, and helps protect us from some of the most dangerous people. 'We must close this gap in the law and prevent British citizenship being reinstated to individuals until all appeals have been determined. This is the right thing to do if we believe someone is a threat to our national security, and it will make Britain safer.' For the public good The Home Office said deprivation decisions on 'conducive to the public good' grounds were taken only in the most serious cases by the Home Secretary, where it is in the public interest to do so because of the individual's conduct or the threat they pose to the UK. About 222 of the those deprived of citizenship between 2010-2023 were for the public good. In 2018, the number of appeals reached a record high of 88 as the UK sought to counter the threat from Islamic state fighters returning home. That was up from just five in 2011. The change in the law follows the similar approach taken in asylum and human rights appeals cases, where asylum is not granted to a person appealing a rejection until all further appeals, up to the Court of Appeal, have been determined. Home Office officials said the narrowly focused Bill, consisting of two clauses, made no change to a person's existing right to appeal any decision to remove their British citizenship, and did not widen the reasons for which a person could be deprived of their citizenship.
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Pakistani child rapists must be deported
The headlines could hardly be more effective if they were written on an election poster for Reform UK: 'Rochdale grooming gang cannot be deported after tearing up Pakistan passports'. In the aftermath of Baroness Casey's review of the rape gang scandal, people are already angry. Too angry? Is there a moral ceiling through which citizens' anger at the systematic rape and abuse of vulnerable children should not rise? This is especially the case when the authorities have enabled such behaviour. There are occasions when, despite all the politicians' warnings that anger gets us nowhere, it is right to be angry. It is good. It is the entirely justified reaction to such barbarism. And when it is reported that some of the ringleaders of the Pakistani rape gangs remain in this country because their home nation has refused to accept them, that anger rightly intensifies. Who could fail to be incensed by Pakistan's refusal to welcome home the likes of Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf, jailed in 2012 as ringleaders of a nine-strong gang of Pakistani men who sexually assaulted 47 girls – some as young as 12 – after plying them with drink and drugs over two years in Rochdale? Having completed their jail sentences, they have cynically renounced their Pakistani citizenships in order to frustrate the courts' decision to deport them. And so talks are underway with Pakistan which, understandably enough, is resistant to killing the fatted calf to welcome back these particular prodigal sons. And who can blame them? Nevertheless, they were originally Pakistani citizens and to Pakistan they must be returned, rather than remain in the same community where their traumatised victims could easily encounter them on a daily basis. Despite Pakistan's reluctance to accept them back, talks between the two governments are continuing and there may yet be a prospect, if Britain offers enough incentives, of our getting rid of Khan and Rauf. This is a vital point of international law and precedent: we cannot allow the practice to stand whereby a person with dual citizenship can force the authorities to allow him to remain in the UK, just because he has renounced citizenship of the country of his birth or destroyed his original passport. Any country has the right to remove from its soil foreign criminals who put their own citizens at risk. Unfortunately for Britain, for the men's victims and for the Government, the man leading the negotiations on the UK side is our Foreign Secretary, David Lammy. Lammy has form on the issue of deporting foreign criminals. Unfortunately, his record is as someone who previously opposed such deportations. In February 2020, Lammy and the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, (plus a handful of current serving cabinet and other ministers) signed a letter opposing the removal to Jamaica of 50 convicted criminals, including murderers, rapists and drug dealers. Nearly half of those initially targeted were allowed to remain in the UK. And now the Foreign Secretary is leading talks to deport Khan and Rauf. Perhaps Lammy has thought better of his flirtation with his virtue-signalling political activities of the past and is prepared to take seriously the responsibility of removing these two rapists from British soil. We must hope so. One of the reported, unofficial requests that might grease the wheels of the negotiations would be UK Government approval for the re-establishment of direct flights between the two countries by Pakistan's national airline, PIA, which were suspended because of safety concerns. But maybe Lammy needs to play hardball. The UK already sends more than £100 million in aid to Pakistan every year and is the third largest source of foreign direct investment. It would be a crying shame if something were to happen to that nice little earner. It is nothing short of outrageous that Pakistan even hesitates to allow criminals like Khan and Rauf – and there are plenty of others who would follow in their wake – to be removed back to their homeland. If Pakistan wishes to continue to enjoy the largesse of Britain's taxpayers, it needs to understand the justified anger that decent UK citizens feel towards these rapist thugs. Of course, it is natural that the Pakistani government would prefer not to have to facilitate their return. But life is tough. If the talks fail, and Pakistan reveals that it is no true friend of the UK, then our foreign policy must reflect that reality. At the same time, the political consequences of those failed talks need hardly be imagined. The use of those Reform posters featuring the sinister faces of child rapists Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf would not only be inevitable – they would be entirely justified.
The Sun
a day ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Rochdale grooming gang fiends who abused girls as young as 12 still living in UK as Pakistan REFUSES to take them back
TWO prolific Rochdale grooming fiends are still living in the UK - because Pakistan refuses to take them back. Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan were part of a nine-strong gang of Asian men convicted of sex offences against vulnerable girls in 2012. 5 Up to 47 girls as young as 12 were plied with alcohol and drugs and gang-raped across Rochdale during a two-year reign of terror. Then-Home Secretary Theresa May ordered the pair to be sent back to Pakistan in 2014 as it would as it would be "conducive to the public good". But ten years later, Rauf and Khan still remain in Rochdale where their victims are forced to live alongside them. It has now emerged Pakistan is refusing to take the predators back, The Telegraph reports. An official claimed it would be "extremely difficult' to allow in such dangerous criminals. The battle has also been further complicated by Rauf and Khan renouncing their Pakistani citizenship. After they both exploited a loophole by ripping up their passports, they became "stateless", which can block a deportation. Rauf and fellow gang leader Khan, who got a 13-year-old girl pregnant, lost a lengthy fight in 2018 against deportation alongside a third member of the gang, Abdul Aziz. They subsequently launched another bid - insisting the order breaches their human rights as they both have wives and children in the UK. Their appeals were rejected but both have remained in Britain ever since. Sources for the Interior Ministry have said "progress" could be made if the UK were to take part in talks. They also suggested returning direct flights to the UK by its national airline PIA, which were suspended for safety reasons, could help. But UK officials said this suggestion had not been raised in discussions. The subject of grooming gangs has been thrust back into the spotlight this week following a bombshell report by Baroness Casey. The scathing review found councils, police and the Home Office repeatedly "shied away" from dealing with uncomfortable questions on the ethnicity of rapists who targeted young girls. Rauf and Khan were ringleaders of a prolific grooming gang in Rochdale, which has been plagued by sexual exploitation. Khan got a 13-year-old girl pregnant and trafficked another girl, 15, to others - using violence when she complained. He was sentenced to eight years in 2012 and released on licence four years later. Dad-of-five Rauf trafficked a 15-year-old girl and raped her in a secluded area before taking her to a flat in Rochdale where others had sex with her. He was caged for six years and released in November 2014 after serving two years and six months of his sentence. A Home Office spokesman said it would do 'everything in our power' to deport foreign nationals who commit 'heinous' crimes in the UK. He added: 'The UK and Pakistan are working in partnership on shared migration and return priorities. "Both countries recognise and respect our common obligations to return those with no right to remain in our respective countries." 5 5
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Rochdale grooming gang 'cannot be deported - because Pakistan refuses to take them'
Rochdale grooming gang ringleaders reportedly cannot be deported because Pakistan has relinquished their citizenship and will not take them back. Politicians and members of the Pakistani government are believed to have been engaged in 'high-level talks' to allow Qari Abdul Rauf, 55, and Adil Khan, 54, to be deported. The two, who are among the worst grooming offenders in Britain, were originally told they would be sent back to the country after being part of a gang convicted of a catalogue of serious sex offences against young girls in 2012. Despite both being told they would be deported, and then losing appeals in 2018, the pair remain in the UK. Although sources previously suggested progress was being made between the UK and Pakistan on the matter, it is reported that officials from the south Asian country have said it would be 'extremely difficult' to take the dangerous duo back. They also told the Telegraph there was 'no basis' to accept the pair back into Pakistan as they had renounced their citizenship. However, interior ministry sources have said 'progress' could be made if the UK were to take part in talks. They also suggested that, while direct flights via its national airline PIA to the UK were suspended, deportation was 'not feasible'. UK officials said that PIA flights, which had been paused due to safety concerns, had not been raised in discussions, according to The Telegraph. It comes after a damning review into the grooming gang scandal found councils, police forces, and the Home Office repeatedly 'shied away' from dealing 'uncomfortable' questions about the ethnicity of rapists preying on young girls. The architect of the bombshell grooming gangs review, Baroness Casey, previously condemned 'do-gooders' who ignored ethnic factors for fear of being branded racist. She vented fury at the failure to tackle the issues over a decade, saying she was 'raging' on behalf of the victims. Speaking following the publication of her report, the Whitehall troubleshooter revealed she had found the word 'Pakistani' Tippexed out of a child sex abuse file. Father-of-five Rauf and Khan were jailed in 2012 after heading the notorious Rochdale grooming gang which included nine Asian men, who sexually assaulted 47 girls. Some victims were as young as 12. In 2018 the Home Office emerged victorious after a court of appeal ruled the duo as well as another member of the gang, Abdul Aziz, were to be deported after removing their British citizenship. Rauf and Khan attempted to avoid deportation to their home country by relinquishing their citizenship. Baroness Casey vented fury at the failure to tackle the issues over a decade, saying she was 'raging' on behalf of the victims Before the 2018 ruling, Aziz had ripped up his passport, so was allowed to stay in the UK as the Government could not make him stateless as per international law. A person cannot relinquish their citizenship in the UK if they are not a citizen of another state - a loophole the grooming gang duo attempted to exploit by destroying their Pakistani passports. Foreign secretary David Lammy has been at the helm of discussions with Pakistan on the matter, as both he and Home Office ministers are understood to be 'working very hard' to strike an agreement on Rauf and Khan's deportation. Faith minister Lord Khan who has strong connections to Pakistan is also understood to be involved in talks. Several Pakistanis involved in grooming gangs have been deported including, Rotherham grooming gang member, Khurram Javed, 42, who was sentenced to two years behind bars; Nayyar Tazeem, 34, who was handed a five years prison sentence for grooming and seven sexual assaults; and Rochdale sex offender Kashif Mahmood, 37, who was jailed for two years and seven months. A Home Office spokesman said it would do 'everything in our power' to deport foreign nationals who commit 'heinous' crimes in the UK. 'The UK and Pakistan are working in partnership on shared migration and return priorities. Both countries recognise and respect our common obligations to return those with no right to remain in our respective countries,' he said. The Department of Transport confirmed to the Telegraph that an application for Pakistan's national airline to be taken off the UK safety list, so direct flights to the UK could happen, was still being considered.
