Offenders face being deported

ASIAN sex gangs will be stripped of their British passports using emergency powers previously aimed at terrorists.

Under a new drive by Home Secretary Theresa May, convicted paedophiles who have dual nationality will be kicked out of the country.

She will oversee an ‘acceleration of passport strike-outs and potential deportations’ in response to the sex- grooming gangs whose abuse has been uncovered.

Rochdale ringleader Shabir Ahmed, one of the first to be dealt with under the new approach, last week appealed to an immigration tribunal against losing UK citizenship. A verdict is being considered by judges.

Ahmed is serving a 22year jail term after he was convicted in 2012 of befriending vulnerable teenage girls, plying them with alcohol and raping them. Deportation proceedings are set to start soon against the three British-Pakistani brothers and their uncle who were yesterday jailed for a total of 89 years for ‘systematic’ sex abuse of young girls in Rotherham.

A Whitehall legal adviser said: ‘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.’

Since 2000, an estimated 37 people have had UK citizenship revoked. The Home Office said: ‘Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. The Home Secretary can deprive an individual of citizenship where it is believed it is conducive to the public good to do so.’

However, anyone with only a UK passport cannot be made stateless.