New Delhi: A diplomatic row is brewing between the UK and Pakistan. Britain wants to deport a man of Pakistani origin convicted of heading a grooming gang. But Pakistan has refused to take him back.
Shabbir Ahmed, 73, was released from a prison in Leeds on 2 July after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for leading the Rochdale grooming gang, whose systematic abuse of vulnerable underage girls became one of the defining scandals in Britain. His release has reignited public outrage, renewed scrutiny of failures by police and local authorities, and placed pressure on the British government to ensure his removal from the country.
But officials are now faced with the Pakistani obstacle.
The standoff has turned from an immigration dispute into a test of who has the better bargaining chips, with London and Islamabad reportedly discussing topics such as extradition, visas and political dissidents.
The UK has threatened visa restrictions on Pakistani citizens if the government in Islamabad does not agree to take Ahmed back.
“This man should not be in the UK,” said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. He pledged to “keep up international pressure” as the government announced plans to close a legal loophole that has prevented the deportation of certain foreign offenders.
On Monday, Cooper confirmed that immigration laws would be amended to ensure foreign nationals convicted of human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, war crimes, or offences posing a national security threat are unable to use existing legal protections to stay in the UK. In cases involving these serious offences, individuals may also lose their British citizenship where the law allows.
However, legal changes do not automatically guarantee deportation, as removal still depends on whether the receiving country agrees to accept the individual.
Shabbir Ahmed and his crimes
In 2012, Ahmed was convicted of 30 child sexual abuse offences, including rape, after prosecutors proved he led a grooming network that repeatedly abused vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale and neighbouring Oldham.
He was found guilty of rape, sexual assault, and trafficking as the leader of this child sexual exploitation network, receiving a 19-year prison sentence and losing his British citizenship while incarcerated.
His removal is currently blocked by the Immigration Act 1971, which protects Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 from deportation. Many of those convicted in the Rochdale grooming gang cases were of Pakistani origin, while many of the victims were young white girls, The New York Times reported.
Trial evidence showed that Ahmed targeted vulnerable teenage girls—including runaways and those seeking food or shelter—and encouraged them to call him “Daddy.” Throughout the proceedings, he expressed no remorse, verbally abused the trial judge, labeled his victims as “prostitutes,” and made derogatory remarks about white British society. In a separate case that same year, he was also convicted on 30 counts of child rape involving a British Pakistani girl he had abused for nearly ten years, the BBC reported.
Diplomatic tightrope, legal loophole
Within days of Ahmed’s release, British Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to amend the legislation to close what ministers call a loophole. Whether the changes could apply retrospectively remains uncertain and may ultimately require a judicial review.
Even if Britain removes the legal barrier, deportation requires Pakistan’s cooperation. So far, Islamabad has refused.
Pakistani officials argue that Ahmed lost his Pakistani status decades ago when he emigrated to Britain before 1971 and surrendered his nationality. They maintain his crimes were committed entirely in Britain, where he has spent most of his life.
“Our position is that the UK must listen to us too,” a senior Pakistani official told The Telegraph.
“Pakistan cannot be railroaded into agreeing to terms that are suitable only to the UK.” The official rejected claims that Britain could pressure Pakistan through visa restrictions or reduced development assistance.
“It is a different Pakistan you are dealing with,” the official said. “Arrogance is not acceptable to us.”
Behind the public disagreement lies a much wider diplomatic negotiation. Pakistani officials have privately linked Ahmed’s case to longstanding requests for Britain to extradite several Pakistani political figures living in the UK.
Among them are Shahzad Akbar, a former minister in Imran Khan’s government; Adil Raja, a former military officer turned journalist and government critic, and Altaf Hussain, the exiled founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, who has lived in Britain for decades.
Pakistan accuses them of spreading anti-state propaganda or inciting unrest. Britain has consistently declined these requests, citing domestic legal standards, free speech protections, and human rights obligations.
Pakistani officials argue that London cannot invoke human rights to protect dissidents while demanding cooperation over criminal deportations.
British officials point to previous instances where visa sanctions successfully pressured reluctant countries into accepting deportees.
Pakistan also plays a major role in Britain’s asylum system. According to Home Office figures, Pakistani nationals submitted more than 10,000 asylum applications last year, making them the largest single nationality among applicants.
‘Keep your trash’
On social media, the prospect of deporting Shabir Ahmed has sparked fierce domestic backlash.
“Pakistan should not accept their trash under any circumstance,” political activist Ammar Rashid wrote on X, calling the UK’s move “a childish tantrum”.
Zofeen Ebrahim, a Pakistani journalist, wrote on X that Pakistan should not have to accept convicted offenders deported from Britain, remarking that the country already faced significant domestic challenges.
“We don’t want him either,” she wrote.
Adil Raja, one of the critics Pakistan wants extradited, argued on X that Pakistan’s political climate has become increasingly authoritarian, citing international assessments that classify the country as a “hybrid regime.” He also accused Islamabad of using Britain’s legal system to pursue costly defamation cases against critics abroad to suppress dissent rather than address the substance of the allegations.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)