Officers from the UK will soon be working in Iraq in a bid to tackle people-smuggling gangs operating in the English Channel, as part of a package of measures announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday.
Social media campaigns aimed at Iraqi citizens to deter them from attempting to cross the waterway will also be used in efforts to stop them from entering the UK illegally.
Mr Starmer used the opening of the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow to tackle “the vile people smugglers” who preyed on the “desperation, misery and hope” to make money from migrants and asylum seekers.
The Prime Minister announced the new Border Security Command (BSC), set up to tackle the so-called small boat crossings, would receive an additional £75 million ($97.4 million) of funding on top of the of same figure already committed.
Part of the funds will go towards paying for British officers to be deployed in Iraq, whose citizens make up a large proportion of those who pay to cross the English Channel in small boats.
Gangs from Iraqi Kurdistan have come to dominate people smuggling in recent years and one of the key players, Barzan Majeed, known as Scorpion, was this year detained in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. He had fled there after being sentenced to 10 years in jail by a court in Belgium.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman told The National the officers would be working in an international capacity to tackle the problem at source.
“We’ve announced new investment, new intelligence officers and new international liaison officers who I can confirm are going to work beyond European borders," he said. "We’ve also announced further investment into Interpol’s own global operations as well.”
So far this year, 31,094 people have been detected crossing the Channel in small boats, according to Home Office data. This is 16 per cent higher than the 26,699 arrivals who had arrived by this time last year but 22 per cent lower than the 39,929 arrivals at this stage in 2022.
Adverts on social media will seek to explain that the reality of living in the UK illegally means no access to work, benefits or public services.
The aim is to counter the picture of life in Britain painted by people smugglers in a bit to attract migrants to use their services.
The government's plan also features working with social media platforms and internet providers to remove harmful content promoting illegal migration services or advertising fake job opportunities.
Ahead of the opening of the event, Mr Starmer outlined how criminal people-smuggling operations run “from the money markets in Kabul through to the Kurdish region of Iraq”, across Europe and into Britain.
Addressing the conference, he said it was his “personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs” that “should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism”.
“So we’re taking our approach to counter-terrorism – which we know works – and applying it to the gangs, with our new Border Security Command”, which he said will become an elite organisation.
The BSC will have 300 staff to tackle boat crossings and other forms of people smuggling, as well as 100 specialist investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
“Illegal migration is, without question, a massive driver of global insecurity," Mr Starmer said. "There is nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.
“You don’t advance the cause of global justice – or compassion for those individuals – to pretend that there is.”
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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Towering concerns
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COMPANY PROFILE
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Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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For more information, and to enter the race, please visit www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
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The national orchestra
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
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Price: Dh199
