UK launches police operation against 'grooming gangs'
LONDON: British authorities said Sunday a nationwide police operation is being launched against 'grooming gangs' suspected of sexually exploiting thousands of girls and young women over decades.
The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said a national inquiry was being started into the scandal, which has attracted the attention of billionaire Elon Musk.
'The National Crime Agency, the UK's most senior investigating agency, will carry out a nationwide operation to target predators who have sexually exploited children as part of a gang and put them behind bars,' the Home Office said in a statement.
'More than 800 grooming gang cases have already been identified by police,' said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The crackdown aims to bring 'long-awaited justice and prevent more children from being hurt by these vile criminals', her ministry's statement said.
Starmer earlier on Sunday said he had dropped his initial resistance to a national inquiry over a series of local probes, and was now backing one, to be led by a member of the upper house of the UK parliament, Louise Casey.
The issue became a scandal as details emerged in official reports about the exploitation across England.
Gangs of men, often of Pakistani origin, targeted mostly white girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, some of whom lived in children's homes.
The gangs operated in several English towns and cities, notably in Rotherham and Rochdale in the north, but also in Oxford and Bristol, for almost four decades.
The issue of UK grooming gangs was thrust into the international spotlight in January when Musk launched incendiary attacks on his X platform against the UK government for resisting the calls for a national inquiry.
The Home Office announcement of the police operation said 'cases that were not previously progressed will be investigated'.
It would 'look specifically at how young girls were failed so badly by different agencies on a local level', the statement said.
The Home Office said the operation would also seek to improve how local police forces investigate such allegations, 'and help to put an end to the culture of denial in local services and authorities about the prevalence of this crime'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
UK vows tougher laws to combat child grooming gangs
LONDON: The UK government announced Monday it would bring in tough new laws to "root out the scourge" of grooming gangs suspected of sexually exploiting thousands of girls and young women. "We will change the law to ensure that adults who engage in penetrative sex with a child under 16 face the most serious charge of rape," interior minister Yvette Cooper told parliament, as authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on the gangs. The announcement came as a damning report written by member of the upper house of the UK parliament Louise Casey was published. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday announced a new national inquiry would be launched into the scandal, one of Casey's 12 recommendations. The report "concludes that further local investigations are needed, but they should be directed and overseen by a national commission with statutory inquiry powers" to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath, said Cooper. "We agree, and we will set up a national inquiry to that effect," she added. The report found that the ethnicity of perpetrators was "shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, so we are unable to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data." But Cooper said that Asian men, particularly from a Pakistani background, were "overrepresented" and that ethnicity and nationality of suspects in grooming cases will now be recorded on a mandatory basis. The issue of UK grooming gangs was thrust into the international spotlight in January when tech billionaire Elon Musk launched incendiary attacks on his X platform against the UK government for resisting calls for a national inquiry. Gangs of men targeted mostly white girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, some of whom lived in children's homes. The gangs operated in several English towns and cities including Rotherham and Rochdale in the north, but also in Oxford and Bristol, for almost four decades.--AFP
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Travel ban? Yes and no!
WAS Fahmi Reza, Malaysian graphic artist and activist, banned from overseas travel? The answer should be as easy as yes or no. But according to the Immigration Department, the answer was, at least on June 6 as Fahmi found out at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Singapore, yes and no depending on whether it is the department's English or Bahasa website. Being bilingual, Fahmi read both only to get different responses. How could one department have one system but two different responses, albeit in two languages? The English version said there was no travel ban, but the Bahasa copy asked him to contact the Immigration Department, suggesting there was a restriction of some sort. Mind bending. The department did try to explain the puzzle through a statement, but it appears to blame the system. Little wonder, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed the department to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. Looks like nothing gets done without the intervention of the prime minister. Or in extreme cases, unless a royal decree is issued. We cannot take the nation to a good place if the public service only springs into action when intervention is from the top. But that is the developing pattern we detect, when a blunder like this or road tragedies happen. We have a question for the Immigration Department's top management: Why didn't they spring into action the moment they detected the mess up? Frankly, the Immigration Department has a lot more to explain on Fahmi's overseas travel ban controversy than merely issuing a statement that appears to point the finger at the system. Now it has become a national issue, with the conversation being joined by non-governmental organisations and even former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad. As an aside, there was irony at work in the case of Dzulkifli. It was MACC that requested the travel ban. All are agreed on one point: no agency should have unchecked power to restrict a person's freedom of movement. Or to put it differently, every agency that is given the power to do so — we can't deny our laws do empower agencies to do so — must direct itself properly in law. This is an old public law principle expounded in the seminal English case of Wednesbury, which is part of our common law. Lord Greene there was speaking of the exercise of discretion, but if it applies to good judgment it must apply more so to the exercise of power. Make no mistake. We are not saying freedom of movement or speech is absolute. There isn't a country in the world where either is absolute. But what is called for is transparent due process. Our government agencies could do better when it comes to due process. The people, including Fahmi, must understand that there isn't absolute freedom. Similarly, our agencies must know that there isn't such a thing as unchecked power. Power granted by the law must be exercised properly in law.
New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Pakistan shuts Iran border as Israel-Iran conflict escalates
QUETTA, Pakistan: Pakistan has closed all its border crossings with neighbouring Iran for an indefinite period, provincial officials said on Monday, as Israel and Iran trade intense strikes and threaten further attacks. "Border facilities in all five districts – Chaghi, Washuk, Panjgur, Kech and Gwadar – have been suspended," Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani, a senior official in Balochistan province, which borders Iran, told AFP. Crossing into Iran "has been suspended until further notice", said Atta ul Munim, an official at one of the crossings in Chaghi district. However, there was "no ban on trade" activities at the border and Pakistani nationals needing to return to their the country from Iran can cross, he added. "We're expecting around 200 Pakistani students coming today," Atta said. On Sunday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said 450 Pakistani pilgrims were evacuated from Iran, with more to follow, as well as from Iraq – the two countries hosting the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Pakistan, the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons, said on Friday it "stands in solidarity with the Government and the people of Iran" against strikes by Israel, which both Islamabad and Tehran do not recognise. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday warned that the world "should be wary and apprehensive about Israel's nuclear prowess" and accused it of lacking "any international nuclear discipline." Israel is the Middle East's only nuclear power, although undeclared. Media reports have said Pakistan may support Tehran if the conflict was to widen, but officials in Islamabad have reiterated that their country is only showing "moral and diplomatic solidarity." Predominantly Sunni Pakistan shares a more than 900-kilometre (560-mile) border with Shiite-majority Iran. The relationship between the two neighbours has been complex, with Pakistan often wary of US-led sanctions on Tehran and also mindful of its ties with Riyadh, which has repeatedly helped rescue its economy by rolling over overdue debts. Bilateral trade between the two countries stands at around US$3 billion and officials have vowed to boost it to US$10 billion in the coming years.--AFP
