Lee Durant/BBCBritain and Iraq have agreed an unprecedented joint plan to tackle people smuggling gangs responsible for thousands of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.On a three-day visit to the country, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also signed a new agreement to ensure failed Iraqi asylum seekers are returned home more “swiftly”.She met ministers from the federal government in Baghdad and regional leaders in Kurdistan in the north where many smuggling gangs are based.The agreement will involve greater intelligence sharing and more joint law enforcement operations, all designed to increase the number of smugglers that are prosecuted.As part of the deal, the UK will give Iraqi law enforcement £300,000 for training in border security, focused on organised immigration crime and drug trafficking. On top of this, the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will get support worth £200,000 to help tighten their border security and tackle irregular migration.The Home Secretary was accompanied by Martin Hewitt, the government’s new Border Security Commander, who met his Iraqi counterpart. Both men will play a huge role in trying to make the agreement work.The BBC team were the only broadcast journalists travelling with Cooper. The focus in Baghdad was a half-day meeting with her Iraqi counterpart, Abdul Amir al-Shammari.They met at the interior ministry before visiting the Iraqi human trafficking centre. The home secretary also toured a police college where she was guest of honour for a marching parade of more than 2,000 newly trained Iraqi officers.Lee Durant/BBCThe agreement is the first substantive attempt by the government to fulfil the prime minister’s “personal mission” to combat people smuggling at source rather than just trying to stop boats in the Channel.Iraqi migrants are regularly among the top five nationalities seeking to cross to the UK and many of the smuggling networks across Europe are run by Iraqi Kurds.We spoke to Shukria Badar, a mother of five boys and two girls from Erbil, whose son Baryar Mohamed used people smugglers to try to reach Britain. He perished in the Channel when his overloaded boat sank in heavy seas. He was 23-years-old.Shukria wept as she told us how she fears one of her other sons may one day also try to reach Britain using people smugglers.”I wish they would die all these smugglers. They deserve to die for every tear l’ve shed for my son, for every tear other mothers have shed for their children. “I pray that God punishes them for what they have done, and there must be a law to put these smugglers in prison.”Lee Durant/BBCThe new UK-Iraqi deal is designed to be a blueprint for further cooperation between both governments.It will involve a new communications campaign to try to counter smuggler propaganda on social media. The aim will be to deter Iraqis coming to the UK by telling real stories about “the risks and realities of travelling to the UK irregularly”.A new taskforce of experts from both count …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLee Durant/BBCBritain and Iraq have agreed an unprecedented joint plan to tackle people smuggling gangs responsible for thousands of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.On a three-day visit to the country, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also signed a new agreement to ensure failed Iraqi asylum seekers are returned home more “swiftly”.She met ministers from the federal government in Baghdad and regional leaders in Kurdistan in the north where many smuggling gangs are based.The agreement will involve greater intelligence sharing and more joint law enforcement operations, all designed to increase the number of smugglers that are prosecuted.As part of the deal, the UK will give Iraqi law enforcement £300,000 for training in border security, focused on organised immigration crime and drug trafficking. On top of this, the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will get support worth £200,000 to help tighten their border security and tackle irregular migration.The Home Secretary was accompanied by Martin Hewitt, the government’s new Border Security Commander, who met his Iraqi counterpart. Both men will play a huge role in trying to make the agreement work.The BBC team were the only broadcast journalists travelling with Cooper. The focus in Baghdad was a half-day meeting with her Iraqi counterpart, Abdul Amir al-Shammari.They met at the interior ministry before visiting the Iraqi human trafficking centre. The home secretary also toured a police college where she was guest of honour for a marching parade of more than 2,000 newly trained Iraqi officers.Lee Durant/BBCThe agreement is the first substantive attempt by the government to fulfil the prime minister’s “personal mission” to combat people smuggling at source rather than just trying to stop boats in the Channel.Iraqi migrants are regularly among the top five nationalities seeking to cross to the UK and many of the smuggling networks across Europe are run by Iraqi Kurds.We spoke to Shukria Badar, a mother of five boys and two girls from Erbil, whose son Baryar Mohamed used people smugglers to try to reach Britain. He perished in the Channel when his overloaded boat sank in heavy seas. He was 23-years-old.Shukria wept as she told us how she fears one of her other sons may one day also try to reach Britain using people smugglers.”I wish they would die all these smugglers. They deserve to die for every tear l’ve shed for my son, for every tear other mothers have shed for their children. “I pray that God punishes them for what they have done, and there must be a law to put these smugglers in prison.”Lee Durant/BBCThe new UK-Iraqi deal is designed to be a blueprint for further cooperation between both governments.It will involve a new communications campaign to try to counter smuggler propaganda on social media. The aim will be to deter Iraqis coming to the UK by telling real stories about “the risks and realities of travelling to the UK irregularly”.A new taskforce of experts from both count …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
