Pakistan has threatened to stop accepting illegal migrants deported from the UK if Britain forces it to take back convicted sex offender and grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed, who goes by the nickname “Daddy.”
A senior Pakistani government officials told The Telegraph that Pakistan had provided “gold standard” cooperation to the UK, helping return nearly 1,500 rejected asylum seekers, visa overstayers and immigration offenders over the past year.
They warned that Britain’s continued demand for Ahmed’s return could jeopardize this cooperation, as well as wider collaboration between the two countries on intelligence, security and organized crime.
Ahmed, 73, was released last month after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offences. He was stripped of his British citizenship but remains in the UK.
Pakistan has refused to accept him, saying he renounced his Pakistani citizenship, has spent almost his entire life in Britain and committed his crimes there.
A Pakistani official told The Telegraph that Britain’s pressure over the case appeared to be driven by domestic political considerations and warned that bilateral cooperation “cannot be one way traffic.”
Pakistan pointed to official figures showing that returns of Pakistani nationals increased 24% from 1,158 to 1,437 in 2025-26. Returns of failed asylum seekers rose 74% to 486, while other returns, including foreign offenders and visa overstayers, increased to 951.
The dispute comes after UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to change immigration laws to close a loophole that has prevented Ahmed’s deportation.
Pakistani officials have urged Britain to handle Ahmed’s case within its own jurisdiction, arguing that he was raised and lived in the UK for most of his life and committed his crimes there.
Source : The Telegraph
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