Afghan-born human traffikers who charged migrants up to £9,000 to reach the UK have been stripped of their British citizenship, The National can reveal.
Many of the migrants they smuggled into the UK were trafficked for forced labour, including children who were put to work in shops owned or controlled by one of the brothers.
Details of the undercover operation by the UK’s National Crime Agency into the people-trafficking operation was revealed during the men's unsuccessful appeal against having their citizenship removed.
The pair, who are uncle and nephew, had been in the UK for two decades and are currently in jail. They cannot been named for legal reasons and are referred to in court documents and D5 and D6.
The judge who sentenced then described the smuggling operation as a “sophisticated enterprise” that involved the use of drivers and others outside the UK.
The pair made “significant financial gain” from the smuggling and “each migrant would pay some £8,000 to £9,000 to be brought into the country”.
The NCA’s Deputy Director of Investigations Craig Turner told The National the pair were extensively involved in crime.
“We believe these individuals were members of a significant organised crime group involved in a range of serious criminality impacting upon the UK, including organised immigration crime, human trafficking, and money laundering,” he said.
“This assessment was made following a thorough investigation, and was upheld by the court judgment. The NCA is determined to use all the tools at our disposal to protect the public from serious and organised crime.”
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) was told that D5 first arrived in the UK from Afghanistan in 2001 and soon after began sending £500 a month back to his wife in Afghanistan despite not being legally able to work. He was joined by his nephew in 2004 and both were eventually granted British citizenship.
Also involved in their criminal organisation was D6's brother, who is known as D7. He arrived clandestinely in 2007 and was also given asylum after he claimed he faced persecution from the Taliban. He was given the right to remain in the UK permanently.
Undercover sting
Their criminal activities began to attract the attention of the police, who in 2018 raided their homes where they found £12,000 ($15,070) in cash and 30 mobile phones.
The NCA then began an undercover operation involving two officers codenamed George and Mark, posing as intercontinental lorry drivers who had fallen on hard times during the Covid pandemic.
The officers met the brothers in a shop owned by one of them in February 2020 and struck up a conversation in which they told them how Covid was affecting their work.
“D6 ushered George out of the shop and then asked George if he knew anyone who could bring people back into the UK,” according to the three judges who presided over the SIAC hearing.
George said that he did and they agreed to discuss it the following week and the two officers met the brothers at a petrol station in September during which D6 told George he wanted him to “smuggle people from mainland Europe into the UK”.
The people smuggler told the undercover officer it would be up to three people, three times a month on each run with a payment of £2,500 per person smuggled in.
Many of those who were smuggled in were children who had been trafficked for the purpose of forced labour and were forced to work for D5.
Stripped of citizenship
D5 and D6 left for Kabul but in the meantime the Home Office, at the request of the NCA, stripped them of their citizenship on the basis that they were part of an organised crime group involved in trafficking people for exploitation.
After being turned back from returning, they entered the UK clandestinely but were eventually arrested and brought to court.
D6 is serving a 10-year sentence for people smuggling and helping his brother enter Britain illegally. His uncle was sentenced to five years for entering illegally.
The brothers are currently in prison while D7 is believed to be in Finland.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Teaching in coronavirus times
Look north
BBC business reporters, like a new raft of government officials, are being removed from the national and international hub of London and surely the quality of their work must suffer.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
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NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
