Deportation... and its cousin the unicorn.
Quote:Members of Rochdale grooming gang 'back in town' two years after losing right to stay in the UK.Manchester Evening News:
'Three members of the Rochdale grooming gang are "back in town" two years after losing the right to stay in Britain.
Qari Abdul Rauf, Abdul Aziz and Adil Khan are all still living in the town a decade after preying on girls as young as
twelve, the Mirror reports.
(Left to right) Adil Khan, Abdul Aziz and Qari Abdul Rauf.
They were among nine men convicted in 2012 of a catalogue of serious sex offences against vulnerable victims in
Rochdale and Heywood. As the only groomers to have dual UK-Pakistani citizenship, they were at risk of being
deported back to Pakistan - but none of them appear to have been deported or are facing deportation.
That is despite the Home Office saying in 2015 it intended to remove their British citizenship and the men losing
an appeal against the decision in 2018.
A victim has reported that the abusers are still living in Rochdale today, a year after the MEN reported that victims
were still bumping into their attackers. After spotting pictures on social media showing Rauf, 51, in the town, she said:
“I thought Theresa May had organised his deportation, so how come he’s still here?
"I feel violated to know he’s living near me – in the same area where he hunted for girls like me.
“It’s a total betrayal of grooming victims that he’s allowed to stay.”
Dad-of-three Abdul Aziz, 49 – who was referred to as 'The Master' by the gang – and Adil Khan, 50, also live nearby
after being freed from jail, the Mirror reports. Former taxi driver Aziz played a 'leading role' in the grooming gang.
He regularly took his young victim to different flats around Rochdale, where she was plied with cannabis and vodka
and coerced into sex with men who paid him cash.
Shabir Ahmed, who was known as 'Daddy' in the gang, is still serving a 22-year jail term for rape.
In 2016, then-home secretary Theresa May ruled it would be 'conducive to the public good' to deprive the four of the
right to remain in the UK. They then fought, and lost, a long legal battle against deprivation of UK citizenship, losing a
final Court of Appeal ruling in July 2018.
Eight judges, including the Master of the Rolls Lord Justice Sales, heard their case and upheld rulings all four should
lose UK citizenship rights. Bev Hughes, Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said it is 'completely
unacceptable' that Rauf, Aziz and Khan are still in the Rochdale area.
She said: "Their continued presence in the community will doubtless be very distressing to those affected by the appalling
crimes they perpetrated. "Greater Manchester should have been rid of them a long time ago.
“These three appalling individuals were all found guilty of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a
child in 2015.
"Five years later, and more than 18 months after they all lost their appeals against the decision to strip them of their British
citizenship, they remain living in our city-region with no clear timeline as to when their deportation will be finalised.
"Only once these deportations are complete will justice finally be seen to be fully served, and only then will the community
fully be able to begin to heal.
“The Mayor and I have written to successive Home Secretaries, most recently only last month, calling for assurances that
the deportation of these three men is still a priority for the Home Office. "In light of these latest revelations, we again call on
Government to prioritise the processing of their departure from the UK as swiftly as possible
"When they are finally out of this country it will be not a moment too soon.”...'
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.