The UK government has agreed a deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants as part of wider moves to limit small boat crossings, which have exceeded 28,000 this year and more than 50,000 since the Labour administration came to power.
The deal, signed by Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, will set up a formal process to return Iraqis who have arrived in the UK with no right to stay in the country.
It comes after an £800,000 ($1.07 million) deal last year with Baghdad to help it crack down on smuggling networks and organised crime and the signing this month of a “one in, one out agreement” with France.
The UK is also recruiting hundreds of extra law enforcement officers in a bid to tackle people-smuggling gangs based in the Middle East, including in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which is seen as a hotbed of smuggling activity. The National Crime Agency will hire an additional 300 officers who will target smuggling kingpins and aim to disrupt their criminal operations across the Middle East, as well as Africa and Europe
Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani agreed to strengthen co-operation on migration.
Mr Jarvis signed the agreement during a visit to the UK by Iraq’s Deputy Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. The Home Office said the accord would allow the “swift” return of illegal migrants.
He hailed the returns deal as a “positive move” and “part of the jigsaw” to tackle small boat Channel crossings, describing the Iraqi government as a “key strategic ally in our work to combat irregular migration”.
“Everybody has seen the very concerning scenes of significant levels of crossings across the English Channel and we’re working very hard to put a stop to that,” he said.
“The best way to do that is to work upstream of the problem.”
Home Office statistics said since previous deals, the number of Iraqis arriving in the UK by small boat has fallen to 1,900 in the year to March, down from 2,600 in 2024.
“By working together on security, development and migration challenges, we are building stronger relationships that benefit both our countries while tackling shared challenges like organised crime and irregular migration,” Mr Jarvis said.
The returns deal is the latest of the Home Office’s policies to stop small boats crossing the channel.
Similar agreements have already been made with Albania and Vietnam since Labour came to power.
Another deal with France recently came into force, where small boat migrants who have arrived over the English Channel from the French coast can be returned to the country.
The migrants will then be exchanged for a legitimate asylum seeker in France who can demonstrate a genuine family link to the UK. It is hoped it will act as a deterrent to those crossing the Channel.
The latest figures from the Home Office showed 116 migrants arrived aboard two small boats on August 15.
“This visit reinforces the strength of the UK-Iraq partnership and demonstrates our government’s commitment to serious diplomacy that delivers real results,” Mr Jarvis said.
“As someone who served in Iraq, I understand first-hand the importance of building enduring relationships in the region, and the new agreement we have signed is a testament to the trust and co-operation we’ve built with our Iraqi counterparts.”
The announcement was criticised by Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp.
“Over 50,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel in Labour’s short time in power, the worst illegal immigration crisis in our history,” he said.
“Labour has surrendered our borders, and the consequences are being felt in our communities, from rising crime to shocking cases of rape and sexual assault by recent arrivals.
“Now they boast about a measly returns deal with Iraq, but barely any small boat arrivals are Iraqi, and most would qualify for asylum anyway. It’s a sham designed to look tough while crossings keep soaring.
“Labour has scrapped Conservative deterrents and created the conditions for chaos, leaving the British people to foot the bill. Only the Conservatives will stop the crossings and restore control of Britain’s borders.”
People who cross the Channel in small boats are routinely placed in hotels while their asylum claim is processed.
Councils across England are considering launching their own legal action after a district in Essex secured a High Court victory temporarily blocking asylum seekers from being housed in a hotel in the area.
Epping Forest District Council asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being housed in the Bell Hotel.
The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a girl, 14.
The government spent £5.7 million per day housing asylum seekers between April 2024 and March 2025, down from £8.3 million per day the previous year.
When asked whether the government plans to appeal the Epping Forest decision, Mr Jarvis said: “Well, we’ll see where we get to with that specific decision. We’re looking very closely at it.
“The bigger issue is how we can tackle the asylum backlog. We inherited a very significant backlog from the previous government who effectively stopped processing asylum claims.
“That’s why we rediverted the resources that had been put in place for Rwanda to ensure that we can process asylum claims much more quickly than was previously the case.
“And I think the rate of processing is up by 116 per cent, we’ve returned 35,000 people over the last year who don’t have a right to be here.”
Mr Jarvis said it was a “very specific case” with “a long standing history of concern”.
“This was a very specific case concerning a hotel which, since it opened to accommodate asylum seekers five years ago now, has been the subject to a lot of complaints and protests,” he told Times Radio.
“Indeed, there’s been considerable amount of legal debate about its location and use.
“If you go back to November 2022 when it came into use for the second time as an asylum hotel – I think Robert Jenrick was the minister responsible for that, by the way – the local council at the time said it was planning a legal challenge over whether the local planning regulations had been followed correctly.
“There is quite a long-standing history of concern about this particular hotel, and there’s been consideration of previous legal challenges going all the way back.
“There is a short-term challenge to ensure that those asylum seekers who are here are appropriately accommodated, but of course the bigger-picture challenge is stopping people coming here illegally in the first place.
“We’re looking at a range of different contingency options following from a legal ruling that took place yesterday, and we’ll look closely at what we’re able to do.”
Asked whether other hotels housing asylum seekers have the proper planning permission, Mr Jarvis said: “Well, we’ll see over the next few days and weeks.
“Other local authorities will be considering whether they wish to act in the same way that Epping district council has.
“I think the important point to make is that nobody really thinks that hotels are a sustainable location to accommodate asylum seekers.
“That’s precisely why the government has made a commitment that, by the end of this parliament, we would have phased out the use of them.”
