UK sanctions Iraqis in crackdown on people smuggling

Nine from region among 25 listed under new measures to tackle illegal migration trade

Mariwan Jamal and Goran Assad Jalal have all been sanctioned by Britain for people smuggling. Photo: FCDO

Criminals linked to Iraq are among the first to be placed under sanctions for their part in the people-smuggling industry.

The sanctions are the first of a new set of measures to be imposed by the UK as part of a global crackdown on people smuggling aimed at stopping the flow of migrants across the English Channel in small boats.

Those involved in the illegal trade in Europe, the Middle East and beyond face having their assets frozen and being banned from travelling to the UK.

Among the 25 people named by the Foreign Office are nine with links to Iraq, who have had sanctions imposed for their part in equipping and financing the multibillion-dollar people-smuggling business.

Migrants in a desperate bid to board a small boat near Wimereux in northern France. PA

Their activities include supplying small boats solely for people smuggling, sourcing fake passports and facilitating illicit payments.

They include Muhammed Khadir Pirot, who controls payments from people being smuggled from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region to Europe via Turkey using the Hawala system of shadow banking.

Also sanctioned are Mariwan Jamal, who controls money movements through a Hawala banker, who handles payments to people smugglers from migrants in Iraq.

Rafiq Shaqlaway, involved in hawala banking as an adviser to migrants looking to pay smugglers operating routes into Europe via Turkey, has also been sanctioned.

Other Iraqis sanctioned over their involvement in the movement of migrants include Goran Assad Jalal, who was part of an organised crime group which carried migrants in refrigerated lorries from France to the UK at least 10 times between January and March 2019.

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Hemin Ali Salih helped smuggle migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries. Dedawan Dazey runs safe houses for migrants in northern France before they are smuggled to the UK.

Roman Ranyaye, an Iraqi people-smuggler, is responsible for the smuggling of migrants from Asia to Europe.

Azad Khoshnaw, Nuzad Khoshnaw and Nihad Mohsin Xoshnaw, all from Iraq, have been sanctioned for their part in supplying boats, engines and other maritime equipment for the flimsy boats used to transport migrants.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy first announced back in January that the UK would become the first country to bring in a sanctions regime targeting organised immigration and irregular migration.

“This is a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organised immigration crime, reducing irregular migration to the UK," he said.

“From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions.

“My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this – we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.

Others sanctioned include Alen Basil, a former police translator who the Foreign Office says went on to lead a large smuggling network in Serbia, terrorising refugees, with the aid of corrupt policemen.

Basil, reportedly a Syrian-Serb, was found to be living in a house in Serbia worth more than €1 million ($1.17 million), bought with money extorted from countless desperate migrants.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the sanctions were a 'landmark' moment in the fight against people smugglers. PA

Also sanctioned is Mohammed Tetwani, the self-styled “King of Horgos”, who brutally oversaw a migrant camp in Horgos, Serbia and led the Tetwani people-smuggling gang.

Tetwani and his followers are known for their violent treatment of refugees who decline their services or cannot pay for them. The North African gang has also been sanctioned.

Another North African network, the Kazawi Gang, which controls people-smuggling routes from North Africa into the EU, has also been sanctioned. The gang is known to deal out harsh punishments to migrants who are unable to pay, according to the UK Foreign Office.

Sanctions have also been brought against a company in China that advertised its small boats on an online marketplace explicitly for the purpose of people smuggling.

The boats advertised are of the type often used by criminal gangs in which migrants are packed, before being sent across the English Channel at huge risk to those on board.