LONDON: Britain has promised £1 million in emergency aid to help people in Afghanistan after a powerful earthquake left families grieving and communities shattered. 

The money will go through international partners to make sure vital healthcare and supplies reach those most in need, as the UK seeks to ensure that the funding does not land in the hands of the Taliban administration.

Sunday’s disaster – one of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes – has killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,800, authorities said on Monday, as rescue operations continued. 

The country’s response to the crisis has been hampered by shrinking funding for Afghanistan, led by US aid cuts.

Britain’s £1 million ($1.35 million) assistance will be split between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Red Cross (IFRC) to deliver critical healthcare and emergency supplies to Afghans in the most affected regions, according to a government statement.

“The UK remains committed to the people of Afghanistan, and this emergency funding will help our partners deliver critical healthcare and emergency supplies to the most hard-hit,” British foreign minister David Lammy said in the statement.

LONDON: Indian nationals 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 official British data by the Centre for Migration Control (CMC).

The think tank, citing UK Ministry of Justice figures, said convictions of Indian nationals rose by 257% between 2021 and 2024, even as overall foreign national convictions for sexual offences grew by 62% during the same period.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data has been drawn from the Police National Computer (PNC).

The CMC analysis showed that sexual offence convictions involving Indians rose from 28 cases in 2021 to 100 in 2024, an increase of 72 cases. Pakistanis are at the bottom of the nationalities for sexual convictions as Nigerians (166% increase), Iraqis (160%), Sudanese (117%) and Afghans (115%) made up the other nationalities with the steepest rises. Bangladeshis and Pakistanis featured in the data with rise of 100% and 47% respectively.

The report also highlighted that Indians ranked third in serious crime convictions, with a 115% increase between 2021 and 2024. The number of such convictions reached 588 in 2024, up from 273 in 2021. “There were almost 75,000 non-summary convictions of foreign nationals between 2021 and 2024… showing a general pattern of increase,” the CMC noted.

The findings come weeks after UK Home Office data showed a sharp rise in Indian nationals held in detention, almost doubling in the past year. Indians also emerged in the data as the second-largest group to receive study visas (98,014) and the largest for work and tourist visas to the UK. Last month, India was included in the expanded list of countries from which foreign offenders will be deported immediately after sentencing, before their appeals are heard.

The nationalities with the highest number of convictions for sexual offences last year were Indians (100), Romanians (92), Poles (83), Pakistanis (56), Afghans (43), Nigerians (40), Sudanese (37), Bangladeshi (34) and Portuguese (33).

The MoJ said the data should be treated with caution. It was possible for an offender to have multiple nationalities listed on the PNC, although they were recorded according to their “first” or “primary” nationality. One individual could also be responsible for multiple offences. Convictions by offenders where there was no declared nationality were excluded from the analysis.

Number of sexual offence convictions by foreign nationals in 2024

According to the data, the number of sex offence convictions for foreign nationals rose by 62%, from 687 in 2021 to 1,114 in 2024, compared with a 39.3% rise for British nationals, from 4,409 to 6,142.

The seven nationalities that accounted for about three quarters of the Channel crossings last year — Afghans, Syrians, Iranians, Vietnamese, Eritreans, Sudanese and Iraqis — saw a 110% increase in the number of sexual offence convictions between 2021 and 2024.

The total number of non-summary convictions of foreign nationals increased by 19.6% between 2021 and 2024, from 17,417 to 20,826. The number of convictions of British nationals increased by 5.9%, from 138,307 to 146,511. That means the number of convictions increased at three times the rate of convictions of Britons.

The nationalities with the highest number of non-summary convictions in 2024 were Romanians (3,271), Albanians (2,150), Poles (1,869), Irish (1,105), Lithuanians (737), Indians (588), Iranians (508), Bulgarians (489), Portuguese (485) and Algerians (472).

A government spokesman said: “Any foreign national who commits these kind of sexual offences in our country will face the full force of the law, and be deported at the earliest opportunity. And thanks to the reforms in our border security bill, any asylum claims they make will also be denied. This Government has already removed almost 5,200 foreign national offenders in its first year in office, a 14% increase on the previous 12 months, and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our rules.”

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization declaration issued today (Monday)reaffirms Pakistan’s position on terrorism, unequivocally condemning all forms and manifestations of this global menace.

The SCO emphasized that double standards in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable. It strongly condemned the attacks on the Jaffer Express and the school bus in Khuzdar.

The declaration called for comprehensive and effective measures to combat all dimensions of terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists. Member states underscored the need for coordinated action against all terrorist organizations, in line with UN Security Council resolutions, the global counter-terrorism strategy, and the principles of the United Nations.

The SCO also stressed the importance of establishing an inclusive government in Afghanistan, with representation from all ethnic and political groups, to ensure lasting peace. It affirmed that every nation has the sovereign right to choose its own political, social, and economic path.

Furthermore, it declared that the use of terrorist groups for political or proxy objectives is unacceptable.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan has consistently presented credible evidence of cross-border facilitation of terrorism by India to the global community. India’s involvement in incidents like the Jaffer Express and the Khuzdar school bus attack has been substantiated with documented proof. In its April 24 statement, Pakistan’s National Security Committee offered India an independent investigation into the Pahalgam incident which remains unanswered by the Indian government to date.

Besides, Pakistan’s long-standing position on peace in Afghanistan aligns with the principles outlined in the SCO declaration. Pakistan has repeatedly shared evidence of cross-border terrorism, and the declaration has now brought further attention to this issue.

By endorsing Pakistan’s stance on terrorism and regional conflicts, the SCO declaration reflects the success of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts.

As a result of its diplomatic efforts, Pakistan is emerging as a net regional stabilizer in the region.

Reiterating their deep concern over the continuing escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the member states strongly condemned the actions that have led to numerous casualties among the civilian population and a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

The SCO declaration called for deepening cooperation in fighting drug trafficking. It also emphasized to continue efforts in fighting corruption and called on the international community to refuse to grant asylum to persons who have committed corruption offences.

The SCO member States called on promoting cooperation in the field of e-commerce, develop digital trade infrastructure, and bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in the digital economy. They also urged to increase cooperation in the field of veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance, ensuring the safety of agricultural and food products, promote the development of trade in agricultural products and strengthen international cooperation in combating epidemics and infections.

The declaration further said that the SCO member States will continue to strengthen cooperation in the fields of agriculture and food security, science and education, artificial intelligence, tourism, culture, health, sports, environment, and sustainable socio-economic development.