THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Rakib Ehsan’s Article on “Afghan Sex Offenders” Analysed
The writer Rakib Ehsan argues that the UK government and media are making a dangerous mistake. Writing in Spiked, he says people are too afraid of being called racist to talk about the link between foreign nationals and crime. He focuses especially on sexual crimes committed by male migrants from Afghanistan. Ehsan believes that ignoring this problem puts the public, and women in particular at risk.
To support his argument, Ehsan uses police charge numbers and global safety ratings. He points to police data showing that Afghan nationals in the UK face sexual offense charges at much higher rates than British citizens. Even when using official census data, Afghan-born men are charged about three times more often than UK-born men.
Ehsan explains this by looking at cultural differences. He notes that Afghanistan ranks at the bottom of global lists for women’s rights. He argues that some men bring these harmful attitudes toward women with them when they come to the UK.
To fix this, he wants tougher border controls, better background checks, and fast deportations for criminals.
However, many experts on crime and statistics say the numbers do not tell the whole story. Their main point is about age and gender. All over the world, sexual crimes are mostly committed by young men. The total UK population includes women, children, and elderly people, while the Afghan population in the UK is mostly made up of young, single men. When you compare a group of mostly young men to a full population of all ages, the young men’s group will always look much worse. Experts also point out that foreign population numbers are hard to count accurately, which can make the crime rates look higher than they really are.
Finally, they argue that living in poor temporary housing, feeling isolated, and dealing with trauma are the real reasons some people commit crimes, not where they were born.
Source:
https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/08/17/we-need-to-talk-about-afghan-sex-offenders/
