Paul Waugh says improved UK–Pakistan cooperation is a ‘chance to act’ on deporting convicted paedophiles
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh has renewed his demand for grooming gang ringleaders Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf to be deported to Pakistan following the lifting of a five-year UK flight ban on Pakistan International Airlines.
The ban had been in place since 2020 due to safety concerns but was lifted this week after improvements to Pakistan’s aviation standards were confirmed by UK and EU regulators. Direct flights between Manchester and Islamabad will now resume.
Waugh welcomed the move as “very welcome news” and said it demonstrated the kind of international cooperation needed to finally deport the two men, both convicted in the 2012 Rochdale child sex abuse scandal.
“This decision will have been taken solely on safety grounds, but it shows the sort of close working relationship we now need between the UK and Pakistan,” he said. “That kind of cooperation can help make sure these vile criminals are finally sent back.”
Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf are Pakistani nationals who were jailed for trafficking and sexually abusing children as part of a grooming gang that preyed on vulnerable girls in Rochdale. Khan received an eight-year sentence, and Rauf was jailed for six years. Both have served their time and are currently free in the UK.
Despite losing their final deportation appeal in 2022, they have not been removed from the country, citing human rights claims and the fact they renounced their Pakistani citizenship.
Waugh said it was “deeply shocking” that more than £550,000 in public money was spent on the pair’s legal challenges, which involved appearances before 12 judges across various courts.
One of Khan’s victims, who was made pregnant at age 13, has previously described the trauma of seeing her abuser back in the community after his release.
“The last government failed to kick these vile paedophiles out of Britain,” Waugh said. “I’m determined to ensure this government finally takes the action the victims, and the people of Rochdale, deserve.”
He added that the restored airline link was not directly tied to deportation arrangements, but could help build the kind of bilateral cooperation required to move forward.
Mr Waugh has repeatedly raised the issue with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and held talks with ministers from both the Home Office and the Foreign Office.
His campaign comes amid renewed political pressure over the issue of grooming gangs in Rochdale. Last month, the government agreed to set up a national inquiry following a recommendation by Dame Louise Casey. Locally, Councillor Farooq Ahmed has called for an emergency town hall meeting to address what he described as historic failures in safeguarding and justice.
While some media outlets have suggested that resumed flights might smooth the path for deportation agreements, UK officials have insisted no direct link exists between the two policy areas.
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