UK and Iraq strike deal to tackle people smuggling and organised crime networks

Described as a 'world first', agreement aims to disrupt Iraqi-Kurdish gangs that dominate criminal business

Britain's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (C-L) and Iraq's Minister of Interior Abdul Amir Al-Shimmari (C-R) walk outside the Ministry of Interior of Iraq in Baghdad, November 26, 2024. Britain's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Bagdad and Erbil during an official three-day visit to Iraq, during which a Joint Statement between Iraq and Britain was signed to tackle people smuggling and organised crime networks operating across the region and in Europe. Further cooperation was agreed on tackling drug flows, modern slavery and continuing counter terrorism work. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / POOL / AFP)

Ms Cooper and Mr Al Shimmari after signing a joint statement on border security following a meeting at the Interior Ministry in Baghdad

Ms Cooper and Mr Al Shimmari visit the Iraq National Police College in Baghdad

Ms Cooper speaks with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Baghdad

Ms Cooper and Britain's Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hitchen meet members of the public as they visit the book market in Baghdad's Al Mutanabbi Street

Ms Cooper meets President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil

Ms Cooper eats at a food stall in Al Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad

Iraqi police cadets rehearse for their passing out ceremony during Ms Cooper's visit to the college in Baghdad

Ms Cooper at the Shabander Cafe in Al Mutanabbi Street

UK Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt attends a meeting with Iraq's Lieut Gen Mohammed Abul Wahab in Baghdad

Ms Cooper speaks with Iraq's Chief Justice Faiq Zidan at the Supreme Court in Baghdad

Ms Cooper attends an evening reception hosted by the UK Embassy at the Abbasid Palace, in Baghdad

Ms Cooper speaks at the Iraq National Police College

The UK and Iraq have agreed on a "world-first" deal to tackle gangs based in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region that run people-smuggling operations across Europe that result in migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The agreement is a key part of the UK Labour government’s pledge to “smash the gangs”, which is at the heart of its bid to tackle the politically charged problem of migrants making the journey to Britain from northern France.

Iraqi-Kurds have come to dominate people trafficking in the past few years and many migrants from the region make the perilous journey.

This month, members of a smuggling gang were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years by a court in Lille, France. Another key player, Barzan Majeed, known as Scorpion, was this year detained in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, where he fled after being sentenced to 10 years in jail by a court in Belgium.

People smuggler Barzan Majeed was tracked down to Iraq. Photo: National Crime Agency

Yvette Cooper, UK Home Secretary, visited Iraq and its semi-autonomous Kurdish region to finalise what her and Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as a “world-first" security agreement.

The deal paves the way for regular co-operation between the UK’s law enforcement authorities, including the National Crime Agency, and their Iraqi counterparts. Specific measures include social media campaigns in the Kurdistan region to counter the myths and misinformation spread by gangs to lure others into the trade.

There is a pledge to hasten deportations of people from the region who have no legal right to be in the UK, particularly those whose asylum claims have failed, including both people smugglers and migrants. As part of the deal, Iraq and the KRI have given commitments to adhere by international standards of humanitarian law and human rights.

“These landmark commitments between the UK government and Iraq and the KRI send a clear signal to the criminal smuggling gangs that we are determined to work across the globe to go after them,” said Ms Cooper.

A French police officer prepares to puncture a people smuggler's boat to prevent migrants from attempting to cross the English Channel at Gravelines, northern France. AFP

“There are smuggler gangs profiting from dangerous small boat crossings whose operations stretch back through northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond. Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too."

Mr Starmer later said the deal would tackle people smuggling upstream "before it reaches our shores".

"I'm pleased to announce today a new security agreement between Iraq and the UK. This is a world-first, that will help us smash the people-smuggling gangs and secure our borders," he said. "The Home Secretary has been out in Iraq to seal this deal and we've also announced funding for Iraqi law enforcement to tackle this problem upstream, way before it reaches our shores."

The UK will also provide £300,000 ($380,000) to Iraq for border security training and the same amount to help the Iraqis build capacity to tackle organised crime. Tackling the problem of small boats eluded the previous government of Rishi Sunak, whose plan to use Rwanda to process asylum claims was sunk by the courts.

Keir Starmer said the UK has signed a 'world-first' deal with Iraq to tackle people smugglers. PA

Public anger about people arriving by small boat forms part of a wider concern about migration into the UK. Figures released on Thursday show legal migration to the UK was 728,000 in the 12 months to June, down from 906,000 posted for the previous year.

During her visit Ms Cooper met the Iraq's Minister of Interior Abdulameer Al Shimmeri, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Chief Justice Faiq Zidan.

She also met the Kurdistan Regional Government's President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed.

Mr Starmer has already said officers from the UK will soon be working in Iraq in a bid to tackle people-smuggling gangs operating in the English Channel.

It came as he announced that a new Border Security Command (BSC) to tackle the so-called small boat crossings, would receive an additional £75 million ($97.4 million) of funding on top of the same figure already committed.

Ms Cooper said the new BSC was already building partnerships across the world to tackle what she called the “evil trade in human lives”.

“The increasingly global nature of organised immigration crime means that even countries that are thousands of miles apart must work more closely together than ever to stop these gangs getting away with it, to strengthen our border security and to stop so many lives being put at risk,” she said.

Material for making boats seized from people smugglers. Photo: NCA

Tony Smith, the former head of the UK’s Border Force and now a border security consultant, told The National working with Iraq makes sense given the large number of Iraqi Kurds involved in people smuggling.

He said that “key” for him is the commitment to speed up returns to Iraq, which will act as a deterrent to those seeking to make the journey, though “the proof of the pudding will be in the eating”.

“We need to see some evidence that the Iraqis are taking people back, and some public pronouncements that Kurds returning to Kurdistan areas in Iraq will be safe,” he said. “It’s all about deterrence. You’ve got to show people going back because people don’t believe they will get sent back. They think that all they have to do is get in a boat.

“You've got to get into the minds of the migrants and smugglers and the only thing that's going to hit them hard is when they see people coming off a boat, getting locked up and being put on a plane out of here.”