UK to recruit hundreds of officers to smash Kurdish smuggling gangs

New funds will boost the National Crime Agency's work in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region

UK National Crime Agency officers with security forces in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region to target UK-linked people smugglers. Photo: NCA

Hundreds of new law enforcement officers are to be recruited by the UK in a bid to tackle people smuggling gangs based in the Middle East, including in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, who are bringing migrants across the English Channel in small boats.

The Home Office has announced a £100 million ($133 million) spending package which will also fund the start of the new ‘one-in, one out’ agreement with France to deport migrants who come by boat in return for allowing those with an approved asylum claim to enter Britain.

The National Crime Agency will see an additional 300 officers who will target smuggling kingpins and aim to disrupt their criminal operations across the Middle East, as well as Africa and Europe, said the Home Office.

These new resources will partly go towards work being done in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region − an area where the NCA has been active − a Home Office source told The National.

It comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is grappling with the charged issue of migration, as protests continue outside hotels in central London and elsewhere that are housing asylum seekers.

The announcement is part of the pledge by Mr Starmer to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers to deal with record numbers of migrants arriving by small boats, a figure that has already topped 25,000 this year.

Police scuffle with protesters at a demonstration outside the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, East London, where asylum seekers are staying. AFP

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper signed an agreement with the government of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region at the end of last year which has seen NCA officers operating for the first time in an area that has become a centre for the people smuggling industry.

NCA officers were involved in an operation to arrest suspected people smugglers allegedly linked to the same network as Amanj Hassan Zada, a UK-based human trafficker who was sentenced to 17 years in jail in November.

A Home Office source told The National the funding and officers will “absolutely” go towards the work being done in the region. which is a “big part of the NCA’s work”.

Announcing the new officers and measures, Ms Cooper said: “For six years, the small boat smuggling gangs were allowed to embed their criminal trade along our coast, and have shown a ruthless ability to adapt their tactics and maximise their profits, no matter how many lives they put at risk.

“They must not be allowed to get away with this vile crime. Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan, and will turbocharge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.”

NCA officers were involved in the arrest of three suspects in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region allegedly linked to UK-based human trafficker Amanj Hasan Zada. Photo: NCA

The new money will be spent on hi-tech surveillance capabilities and AI-assisted intelligence and data analysis tools.

It will also go towards funding police powers to seize digital devices and download data to gather evidence and intelligence, which was announced as part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media could be face up to five years in prison under a new offence to be introduced under the legislation.

As part of the drive to reduce migration, the UK is also to clamp down on foreign students claiming asylum as their visas come to an end. An announcement is expected in the coming weeks regarding a clampdown on universities accepting foreign students who are using the study visa route as a way into the UK but then claim asylum or fail to take up their place.

In its work tackling smuggling gangs the NCA has also been working to disrupt the supply of small boats coming from Turkey to the shores of northern France.

Working with local law enforcement, its officers seized 25 boats capable of carrying 1,500 people at a border crossing in Bulgaria, which is on the major route used to transport the vessels.

A people smugglers' boat intended to take migrants across the English Channel that was seized at border crossing in Bulgaria

NCA director general of operations Rob Jones Director General of Operations Rob Jones said the organisation is focused “on making the biggest impact on organised crime groups behind these lethal crossings”.

“We currently have 91 investigations continuing into the most dangerous people smuggling networks impacting the UK, and are working with partners at home and abroad to target, disrupt and dismantle them,” he said.

But the opposition Conservatives described the new funding announcement as a “desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference”.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants.”

“The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges. Immediate detention, rapid removal and shutting down these illegal networks for good.”

Meanwhile, the government has moved to reduce the number of 16,000 asylum claims made by foreign students who had come to the UK legally on a study visa.

Universities will be penalised if fewer than 95 per cent of international students accepted on a course start their studies or fewer than 90 per cent continue to the end.