The UK government has launched a groundbreaking initiative to combat people smuggling, allocating nearly £1 million in funding to support Iraq in tackling organized immigration crime. This significant investment is part of a broader partnership between the UK and Iraq, aimed at disrupting and dismantling the networks of people smuggling gangs.
The Home Secretary’s pioneering partnership with Iraq has made substantial progress in just four months, with notable achievements in tackling organized immigration crime and strengthening border security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The new funding will be instrumental in supporting the passage of anti-smuggling legislation in the KRI, a crucial milestone in the region’s ability to prosecute organized crime groups involved in people smuggling.
Furthermore, the funding will be utilized to provide targeted training, specialist technological support, and community engagement to address key security challenges in the region. The successful implementation of the new law will also bolster wider National Crime Agency (NCA) operations, supporting them in disrupting high-profile criminal networks operating in the region.
The NCA currently has over 70 investigations into top-tier immigration crime networks, including those operating within the KRI. In a notable achievement, the NCA collaborated with KRI law enforcement partners on a joint operation, resulting in the arrest of three high-profile members of a people smuggling network impacting the UK.
The UK-Iraq partnership has also led to a significant crackdown on the use of fraudulent documents by people smuggling gangs to move migrants through the Iraqi border. Over 100 Iraqi border and airline officials are receiving training to detect false papers, and the UK has distributed specialist forgery detection devices across forensic labs in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk.
The UK’s expertise in false document detection has been shared with the KRG, enabling them to take down a key route used by people smugglers. This collaborative effort has compromised the ability of these gangs to transport migrants, thereby reducing the risk to lives and enhancing border security.
Joint action between the Home Office, NCA, and international partners is also targeting the business model of these criminal networks, including their use of social media platforms, financial flows, and maritime equipment such as boats and engines. This multi-faceted approach has yielded significant results, with over 8,000 social media accounts taken down in 2024 and more than 600 boats and engines seized by European partners working with the NCA.
The UK government’s commitment to tackling organized immigration crime is further demonstrated by the upcoming Organised Immigration Crime Summit, hosted by the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister. The summit will bring together international partners, including the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, to collaborate on tightening supply chain controls and disrupting the operations of people smuggling gangs.
Minister for Security, Dan Jarvis, emphasized the UK’s determination to hunt down and bring to justice the leaders of people smuggling gangs, who hide in other countries and use their associates to carry out their illicit activities. The UK’s partnership with Iraq is a critical component of this effort, sending a clear message to these criminal networks that their operations will be disrupted and dismantled.
