Hiiraan Online

 

 

London (HOL) - Yaqub Ahmed, a Somali national convicted of gang rape in the UK, will finally be deported to Somalia 16 years after his arrest. An attempt to remove him from the UK in 2018 was halted by a group of passengers on board his deportation flight, sparking a debate over the UK's deportation policies and the role of passengers in halting removals.

Tory MP Nigel Mills described Ahmed's deportation as "very good news." He said: "It was a sickening crime, and he has no right to walk free in Britain. We need to send a strong message out that offenders like this have no place in this country. Unfortunately, he will not be the only case of its kind."

In 2007, Yaqub Ahmed and three other teenagers were found guilty of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl in the UK. He was due to be deported to Somalia in October 2018 after serving half of his 9-year sentence. However, a group of holidaymakers on his deportation flight staged a mutiny, refusing to allow the plane to take off with him on board. The deportation was eventually halted, and Yaqub Ahmed was released back into the UK with strict conditions.

The incident led to a heated public debate, with some praising the actions of the passengers for standing up to what they saw as an unjust deportation, while others criticized the interference and argued that the rule of law must be upheld.

Yaqub Ahmed's victim, who remained anonymous, criticized the passengers' mutiny, saying it had caused her to be "re-traumatized." She also accused the media of giving more attention to the passenger rebellion than to her trauma and the crimes committed by Ahmed.