LONDON: A British Pakistani diaspora group has written an open letter to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, urging him to clarify comments by his Home Secretary Suella Braverman which, they say, blame gangs behind child sexual abuse. stigmatize their community with regard to preparation. The British Pakistani Foundation (BPF), which claims to represent 18,000 Pakistani diaspora members, asked Sunak to retract his “irresponsible words” from his cabinet minister, as it was seen as normalizing bigotry against the community. shall be treated as such.
Braverman’s comment on British Pakistanis
Similar letters have been issued by other Pakistani expatriate groups, all demanding the withdrawal of the Indian-origin cabinet minister’s comments. In a series of television interviews ahead of the launch of a new Grooming Gangs Taskforce earlier this month, Braverman said the perpetrators of such crimes are “groups of men, almost all British Pakistanis”.
“We are writing to share our deep concern and dismay at the Home Secretary’s recent comments and how you are not speaking out against them,” said the open letter released on Tuesday. It added that these comments placed only British Pakistani men’s involvement in so-called ‘grooming gangs’ and cultural values completely contrary to ‘British values’.
“Words have the consequence of stigmatizing an entire community, and make it the face of child sexual abuse, the Home Secretary’s comments will divert attention from perpetrators who do not meet her stereotype, harming too many victims” clearly set out to protect the Home Secretary but is also promoting violence against minorities,” it reads.
The letter referenced a report commissioned by the UK Home Office in 2020, titled “Characteristics of group-based child sexual abuse in the community”, which concluded that, despite some high-profile cases, gender differences such as ethnicity and There cannot be a relationship between insults. Proven
It also refers to the most recent sentencing of 21 men and women of ‘white British ethnicity’ who were found guilty last week of sexually abusing young children over a decade in Walsall, in the West Midlands region of England.
The BPF open letter states, “The divisive and dangerous way in which the Home Secretary is trying to portray all British Pakistani men and insist that the community is complicit in their actions is deplorable. ”
Braverman apologizes
“Therefore, we ask you to immediately clarify the Home Secretary’s claims and ask him to withdraw his comments. We also call for early engagement with the British Pakistani community and others on this issue to ensure that May the irresponsible words of the Home Secretary, and the Government led by you, not be seen as encouraging and normalizing bigotry targeted at British Pakistanis,” it concluded.
Grooming gangs in the UK
Earlier this month, Sunak denounced political correctness that has stalled action against ‘evil’ criminals as he unveiled his new task force to tackle gangs. “The safety of women and girls is paramount. For too long, political correctness has prevented us from taking out the vicious criminals who prey on children and young women. We will stop at nothing to bring these dangerous gangs to book,” He said at that time. ,
Led by the police and supported by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), Downing Street says data analysts are planning new grooming gangs, using cutting-edge data and intelligence to identify the types of criminals who commit these crimes. Will work with the taskforce. Police recorded ethnicity data.