Qari Abdul Rauf

In January 2025, Rochdale's MP asked the Home Office when Rauf and Adil Khan would be deported. The department declined to comment on individual cases while saying it pursued deportations where lawful and possible. In June 2025, LBC reported that Rauf remained in the United Kingdom and that Pakistan refused to readmit him following his renunciation of nationality. In June 2026, further coverage indicated that the Home Office still had not said whether Rauf or Khan had actually been deported.

Attribution

Directly implicated

During debate on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, Lord Murray cited Rauf as an example of an offender who had lost his appeals but remained in Rochdale and invoked his renunciation of Pakistani nationality to criticise application of Article 8 of the ECHR.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A further deportation decision was made in March 2020. Rauf invoked his family life in the United Kingdom, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, his nationality status and practical difficulties removing him. His application was rejected in July 2020, the First-tier Tribunal dismissed his appeal in 2022 and, in August 2023, the Upper Tribunal rejected every ground of appeal.

Following loss of his British citizenship, Rauf produced a certificate dated 24 September 2018 indicating renunciation of his Pakistani nationality. He subsequently argued that this prevented his removal to Pakistan.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

The Upper Tribunal dismissed Rauf's appeal against the refusal of his human rights claim, leaving in place the adverse deportation decisions.

State of the evidence

Documented

After several hearings, Rauf's appeal against deportation was dismissed. The courts gave very considerable weight to the public interest in removing an offender convicted of serious sexual crimes, despite his arguments concerning family life and nationality.

State of the evidence

Documented

During the 2021 hearings, the tribunal had to consider separately whether renouncing Pakistani nationality had genuinely rendered Rauf stateless and prevented his deportation. Expert evidence on Pakistani law was required on the matter.

State of the evidence

Documented

Several years after his release and the citizenship deprivation proceedings, Rauf was still in Rochdale. Victims and local officials denounced the possibility of encountering their former abusers in the town, fuelling national controversy over the Home Office's failure to implement deportations.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

On 20 July 2020, the Home Office refused Rauf's human rights claim opposing his removal. The refusal triggered the next series of appeals, which reached the Upper Tribunal.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Home Office notified Rauf in July 2015 of its intention to deprive him of British citizenship to facilitate possible deportation. A decision followed in December 2015. Following immigration court appeals, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on 8 August 2018. The citizenship deprivation order had been signed on 17 July 2018.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Court of Appeal dismissed appeals by Qari Abdul Rauf, Adil Khan and Abdul Aziz against deprivation of British citizenship. Judges found that the lower courts had properly balanced the family consequences against the exceptional seriousness of the offences.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Upper Tribunal rejected the arguments challenging deprivation of citizenship for Rauf and the other appellants, confirming the Home Secretary's broad discretion in such decisions.

State of the evidence

Documented

The First-tier Tribunal dismissed Rauf's appeal against the new citizenship deprivation decision. It considered, among other things, that the measure was proportionate and would not make him stateless.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Home Office initially decided on 31 July 2015 to deprive Rauf of British citizenship. This first decision was withdrawn on 28 October and replaced on 2 December after more explicit consideration of his family circumstances and the best interests of his five minor children.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated