Britain seeks cash deal with Middle East countries to halt illegal migration

UK looks to follow Italy's example of paying millions to keep people from its shores

Migrants cross the English Channel in March. The dangerous crossings have become a continued political headache for Britain. Getty

The British government is preparing to strike deals with Middle East and Asian countries to stop illegal immigrants setting off for the UK, it has been reported.

It is understood that the home office will pay millions to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Turkey and Vietnam to stop people leaving for small boat crossings across the English Channel.

In a deal similar to one struck by Italy, the government will make a “co-operation and security” agreement in the coming weeks, The Sunday Times said.

The proposal is understood to have been inspired by Italy’s success in reducing migrant boat entries by 62 per cent in the last year after deals with Tunisia and Libya.

Large financial inducements have played a significant role in the reduction after Italy paid Tunisia €105 million ($110m) to bolster its border security. It gave also the country another €100 million to buy patrol ships and enhance its coastguard. In Libya, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s government boosted its coastguard and signed a major gas deal.

Migrants try to board a smuggler's inflatable dinghy in France. AFP

But there has been some criticism of the move after Libya is said to have forcibly moved migrants back to detention centres where they have endured violent abuse. Tunisia has faced the same accusations.

But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who met Ms Meloni in Rome in September, has vowed to “smash’ the human trafficking gangs as a major political priority.

He praised Italy’s “upstream work” in Libya and Tunisia, adding that “preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived”.

The dangerous English Channel crossings have become a continued political headache for Britain, with 32,900 people arriving in small boats so far this year compared to 29,437 in 2023. This is despite the previous Conservative government paying France £500 million ($631m) over three years to increase the security presence on its northern coast.

A key agreement that the UK home office wants to make is with the Kurdistan region of Iraq which is responsible for most of the smuggling gangs, including alleged trafficking boss Barzan Majeed, also known as “Scorpion”, who was arrested in May.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. EPA

The department has assessed that Kurdish groups in the northern Iraq region exercise a lead role in the smuggling making Erbil a key point in the discussions.

The department will now make customised deals with the Kurdistan region, Vietnam and Turkey that could include a “returns deal”, similar to a successful one agreed with Albania under the previous Conservative government.

British border and security officials could also help train their counterparts in the countries to break up gangs.

While figures show that Afghans (5,730) and Iranians (3,844) made up the largest portion of small boat arrivals in the year to June, Vietnamese had soared to 3,031 and Turkish to 2,925 with Syrians at 2,849.

Illegal immigration into Britain has become a major political issue with former prime minister Rishi Sunak attempting but failing to get his Rwanda deportation scheme in place before losing the July general election.

However, there are reports that incoming US President Donald Trump could resurrect the Rwanda scheme to help in the mass deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in America.