LONDON/ISLAMABAD: Britain has raised the prospect of imposing visa restrictions on Pakistan in an escalating diplomatic row over the proposed deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the convicted leader of the Rochdale grooming gang, as Islamabad said the case was solely Britain’s responsibility and had nothing to do with Pakistan.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee that the Labor government was prepared to explore “all possible levers” to force countries to accept the return of offenders Britain wants to deport.
Responding to questions about Ahmed, Cooper said the British government had repeatedly raised his case with Pakistan and would continue to do so.
“This person should not be in the UK. He should be deported,” Cooper told the committee, strongly backing Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood’s efforts to change the law to facilitate his removal.
Asked specifically whether Pakistan could face visa sanctions for refusing to accept Ahmed, Cooper stopped short of announcing immediate measures but confirmed that visa restrictions remained among the options available to the government.
She said previous measures involving visas had reduced abuse of the immigration system involving certain countries and helped Britain secure further deals to return foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers.
Cooper said she could not reveal details of confidential talks with individual governments, but confirmed that “all possible levers should be looked at” to ensure Britain’s immigration rules can be enforced.
Cooper told MPs that Ahmed was not the only case being discussed and that the government was seeking the extradition of a small number of other offenders it believed should be removed to Pakistan.
British ministers have pointed to the cases of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Angola, which agreed to cooperate with returns after Britain threatened visa sanctions.
The foreign minister’s comments have now been followed by Pakistan’s first formal public response to the controversy.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman, Tahir Andrabi, strongly condemned the sexual abuse of children, but rejected any attempt to link the Pakistani government to Ahmed or the decisions surrounding his imprisonment and release.
Andrabi said the perpetrators of child sexual abuse must be investigated, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of their race, ethnicity or religion.
He maintained that Ahmed had spent his adult life in Britain, committed his crimes on British soil and was convicted by a British court. Pakistan therefore regarded the dispute as an internal British matter.
“The Pakistani government has no connection whatsoever with this case,” Andrabi said, adding that Islamabad could not be linked to decisions regarding Ahmed’s release or his treatment under British law.
The FO spokesperson said that regardless of Ahmed’s country of birth, responsibility rested with the society in which he had grown up, grown up and, in the words of the spokesperson, had been “spoiled”.
He said Ahmed’s crimes called for serious introspection in the UK rather than an attempt to seek responsibility outside the country.
Britain maintains that Ahmed should be removed from the country after being stripped of his British citizenship. However, Pakistan has publicly described him as a British citizen and insists that decisions regarding his legal status remain the responsibility of British authorities.
Ahmed, 73, was jailed in 2012 after being convicted of rape and multiple sexual offenses involving vulnerable girls in Rochdale. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison and released earlier this month after serving 14 years.
At the time of his offences, Ahmed held British citizenship. He was later stripped of that citizenship but his deportation has been blocked by section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971. He revoked his Pakistani identity before he was sentenced some 14 years ago.
Interior Minister Mahmood has announced plans to change the law to remove protection from people convicted of serious offences, including child sexual exploitation, human trafficking and crimes that pose a threat to national security.
However, a change in UK law would only remove one obstacle. The government will still demand that another country recognize Ahmed as its citizen and accept his return.
