London: Indians have emerged as the nationality with the largest percentage increase in convictions for sexual offences in the UK amid a wider surge in foreigners being sentenced for such crimes over the past four years in the country, according to an analysis of British government data.
Indian nationals logged a 72-case increase between 2021 and 2024, reflecting a 257 per cent hike amid an overall 62 per cent increase in foreign nationals being convicted of sexual offences during that period.
The figures are based on UK Ministry of Justice data drawn from the Police National Computer and then analysed by the anti-immigration think tank Centre for Migration Control (CMC).
“The number of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences increased by 62 per cent between 2021 and 2024 – jumping from 687 to 1,114. The British conviction rate for these crimes increased by 39.31 per cent over the same time period,” the CMC states in its analysis this week.
According to the think tank’s tally, Indians have remained at the top end of this chart since 2021, when 28 such offences were logged, followed by 53 in 2022, 67 in 2023 and 100 last year.
Nigerians with a 166 per cent increase in cases, Iraqis at 160 per cent, Sudanese at 117 per cent and Afghans at 115 per cent make up the top five nationalities in the sexual crime charts between 2021 and 2024.
Other South Asian nationalities highlighted in the analysis include Bangladeshis, ranked sixth with a 100 per cent hike over the four-year period, and Pakistanis, eleventh with a 47 per cent increase.
Among the non-summary or serious crime convictions, Indians ranked third with a 115 per cent increase and a 315-case hike for the 2021-24 period, with the highest number of cases (588) logged last year – more than double the 273 in 2021.
“There were almost 75,000 non-summary convictions of foreign nationals between 2021 and 2024… showing a general pattern of increase,” notes the CMC.
“There was a decrease in foreign nationals’ convictions for violent offences and fraud offences between 2021 and 2024,” the CMC adds.
The analysis follows recent UK Home Office figures, which indicated that Indian nationals in detention have almost doubled in the past year. The data also revealed Indians as the second-largest group to be granted study visas for the UK (98,014) and the largest for work and tourist visas.
Earlier this month, India was among the countries added to an expanded UK government list of countries where foreign criminals will be deported once they are sentenced before their appeals are heard, as part of measures to crack down on rising migration to the country.
“We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at the time.
PTI
