IBRAHIM AHMADI IN GLASGOW AVOIDS DEPORTATION OVER TALIBAN PERCEPTION OF SEX OFFENDERS
A man convicted of rape has successfully avoided deportation to Afghanistan because of concerns that the Taliban, who 'take a dim view' of sex offenders, would harm him if he were sent back.Ibrahim Ahmadi was previously stripped of his refugee status after being jailed for attacking a sleeping woman in Glasgow.
However, he is now allowed to remain in the UK after a judicial decision found that deporting him could lead to persecution and danger.
The 29-year-old Ahmadi argued that he would face persecution in Afghanistan for being part of the minority Hazara ethnic group, despite two Hazara members being appointed to Afghanistan's new government.
The judges also noted that it was 'reasonably likely that the Taliban would take a dim view of an individual who had committed a violent sexual offence in a Western country.' The ruling has sparked outrage among critics.
Russell Findlay, Scotland’s Shadow Community Safety Minister, commented: 'This judgment is extremely concerning and suggests the human rights of a rapist are deemed more important than the safety of the public.' He added, 'Most people couldn’t care less about his sob story on how the Taliban treat sex offenders.
They would rather see him removed from our streets and put on the next available flight to Kabul.' Ahmadi arrived in the UK in 2007 as a 15-year-old, claiming he had been held hostage by the Taliban and had escaped.
He was initially refused asylum but won an appeal, resulting in granted indefinite leave to remain in 2014.
That same year, he was arrested for threatening a woman in Lanarkshire and was given addiction counseling.
But within months, he committed a brutal sex attack on a 25-year-old woman as she slept in her flat.
He was convicted of rape and sentenced to seven years in prison, though his sentence was later reduced to five years after an appeal.
Social workers continued to view him as a high risk to women.
The Home Office ordered his deportation in 2019; however, Ahmadi used taxpayer-funded legal avenues to challenge this.
His legal efforts were supported by developments in Afghanistan, notably the Taliban’s seizure of power in August 2021, just days before his hearing.
In their judgment, Upper Tribunal judges Hugo Norton-Taylor and Tom Wilding acknowledged that Ahmadi 'represents a danger to the community of the United Kingdom' and recognized there was 'a very strong public interest in deportation.' Nonetheless, they concluded that 'recent events in Afghanistan' meant returning him would breach his human rights.
They further stated that despite Taliban efforts to include Hazaras, such as appointed politicians, Ahmadi would likely be handed over to extremist Sunni groups with a history of persecuting Hazaras and Shias.
Ahmadi received £13,562 in legal aid for his rape trial and appeal, with an additional £1,330 provided to support his deportation challenge, a ruling made in November.
The case echoes previous deportation disputes, like that of Iraqi paedophile Howri Hamad Garib, 47, who fought a deportation order for years after assaulting three girls in 2004.
He was ultimately allowed to stay because his crimes weren’t considered serious enough for expulsion.
In another related case, Judge Norton-Taylor was among those who last year approved Kosovan drug dealer Shaban Binaku’s right to stay in Britain.
Binaku, aged 41, had previously been deported but re-entered the UK unlawfully, establishing a business in London before arrest.
The tribunal decided it would be unreasonable to require his children, born in the UK, to relocate to Kosovo.
The Home Office stated that it might attempt to deport Ahmadi again if conditions in Afghanistan change, emphasizing that 'we always try to remove heinous foreign criminals from this country, but we can be prevented from doing so by the European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act.' They added, 'This individual no longer has refugee protection and we will continue to explore all options to remove him from the UK.' The comment from Ahmadi’s lawyer was not provided.
