Asian sex attackers face being deported
POWERS created to deport terrorists are being used to send home members of Asian child sex grooming gangs with dual nationalities.
Home Secretary Theresa May plans to significantly increase the withdrawal of British citizenship for serious criminals with dual nationality, Whitehall sources said.
According to senior Home Office figures, there is likely to be an ‘acceleration of passport strikeouts and potential deportations’.
The announcement follows the uncovering of a series of Asian sex abuse gangs across the country in recent years.
Rochdale child sex grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed is the first such paedophile to be subjected to Mrs May’s new approach. He was jailed for 22 years in 2012 after being convicted of befriending vulnerable teenage girls, plying them with alcohol and raping them.
The divorced father of four, aged 63 and known as ‘Daddy’, was later found guilty of 30 more rapes in a separate trial.
Despite ruining the lives of dozens of young white girls, Ahmed last week appealed against the deportation from Britain on human rights grounds.
He appeared before the First Tier Immigration Tribunal in Manchester to appeal against Mrs May’s decision to strip him of his British citizenship, the first stage in the deportation process. He will also appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Meanwhile, officials are also
‘There are no limits’
expected to consider whether any members of the Rotherham grooming gang could be deported following their conviction this week.
On Wednesday, six people including three brothers and their uncle, were found guilty of the ‘systematic’ sex abuse of teenage girls in Rotherham. After their sentencing today, legal proceedings for their potential deportation to Pakistan are likely to commence.
A Whitehall legal adviser told The Independent: ‘There are no limits. It is not just potential terrorists who face losing their UK citizenship. Those involved in serious or organised crime, and who hold dual nationality, can expect similar justice.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. The Home Secretary can deprive an individual of their citizenship where it is believed it is conducive to the public good to do so.’