Iraq, UK sign security agreement

The UK and Iraq have signed a groundbreaking security agreement to combat people-smuggling networks and strengthen border enforcement, marking what British officials called a “world-first” in global cooperation.

UK Interior Minister Yvette Cooper announced the deal Thursday, following her visit to Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan region, where she met with federal and regional officials. Cooper described the agreement as a significant step in dismantling transnational smuggling operations.

“Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too,” Cooper said. She noted that smuggling networks extend “from Northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond.”

The agreement includes a joint UK-Iraq statement on border security and measures to expedite the return of individuals who have no legal right to remain in the UK. It also pledges up to £300,000 for Iraqi law enforcement training focused on countering organised immigration crime and narcotics.

An additional £200,000 will support migration and border security projects in the Kurdistan region, including the creation of a new task force. Other measures include a public awareness campaign to debunk misinformation spread by smugglers online.

“The increasingly global nature of organised immigration crime means that even countries thousands of miles apart must work more closely together,” Cooper said, calling the package the most comprehensive effort yet between the UK and Iraq.

The UK’s interior ministry said the agreements send “a clear signal to criminal smuggling gangs that we are determined to work across the globe to go after them.”