Iraq’s Al Sudani to discuss illegal migration returns deal on UK visit

Plan to deport Iraqis in the UK illegally will be on the table during talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government

An inflatable dinghy carrying migrants in the English Channel. Reuters

An Iraq-UK pact to deport illegal migrants from the UK to their homeland will be on the table when Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani visits Britain on Tuesday.

Mr Al Sudani visits Downing Street at the start of a three-day trip for talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has pledged to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers bringing migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Iraqi Kurds have made up a substantial part of the people smuggling business in recent years and now make up most of the criminal gangs who operate in northern France. The UK has already signed the first agreement for its law enforcement officers to work in the region.

But Iraqis also make up a substantial proportion of those who cross in small boats, with the latest figures showing about 2,500 made the journey in 2023 and 958 in the first half of 2024. The UK has agreements with several countries, which allow for the speedier return of migrants whose asylum claims have failed or have no right to stay in the UK, and wants to add Iraq to that list.

Mr Starmer said “secure borders are a vital foundation” of his Labour government’s plans, “so I am also very pleased get started on talks for a bespoke returns agreement between our countries”.

“The deal will help dismantle the people smugglers’ business model by sending the clear message that if you come here illegally, you cannot expect to stay,” he said. Detection equipment worth £66.5 million ($81.2 million) is to be sent to Iraq to assist in the fight against smuggling gangs.

The government has said it has already deported 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK, the highest rate of worldwide removals since 2018. People smugglers and companies who supply them with boats to take migrants across the English Channel will be hit with the “full arsenal” of sanctions, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced recently. Mr Al Sudani’s visit includes discussions about implementing what Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has described as “our world-first security agreement with Iraq”.

"When I signed the landmark deal with Iraq in November, it was a clear signal of our commitment to dismantle the criminal smuggling gangs together,” she said. The Home Secretary added that the visit of Mr Al Sudani was “the next step in ensuring this important partnership with Iraq goes from strength to strength”.

Tony Smith, former head of the UK’s Border Force and now a border security consultant, told The National that the funding promised for working with Iraq "is pretty light and there’s nothing concrete here about a returns agreement – other than that work will continue on it".

"We get a lot of asylum applications from Iraqi Kurds who claim to be persecuted there," said Mr Smith, managing director of Fortinus Global. "Something from the Iraqi government which gives assurances that they will be protected would be helpful. Plus an agreement to accept returns without passports would also be helpful."

The two leaders are also set to announce a £12.3 billion export package, worth about 10 times last year’s trade between the UK and Iraq. The visit was initially scheduled for last year, but was delayed because of developments in the region, particularly the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

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It comes just days after Mr Al Sudani’s one-day visit to Iran, where he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. There, Mr Al Sudani discussed the developments in Syria where rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham toppled former president Bashar Al Assad's regime, as well as bilateral ties.

Mr Al Sudani will hold a series of meetings with UK figures including King Charles III and Mr Starmer, as well as other senior British government officials. Talks are also scheduled with representatives of companies and business sectors, alongside seminars and dialogues with specialised research centres.

The Iraqi Prime Minister will lead a high-level delegation, comprising ministers, MPs, the Governor of Basra, advisers, representatives from the private sector and business leaders and industrialists from various economic sectors, his office said.