UK sanctions Iraqis in crackdown on people smuggling
The sanctions are the first of a new set of measures to be imposed by the UK as part of a global crackdown on people smuggling aimed at stopping the flow of migrants across the English Channel in small boats.
Those involved in the illegal trade in Europe, the Middle East and beyond face having their assets frozen and being banned from travelling to the UK.
Among the 25 people named by the Foreign Office are nine with links to Iraq, who have had sanctions imposed for their part in equipping and financing the multibillion-dollar people-smuggling business.
Their activities include supplying small boats solely for people smuggling, sourcing fake passports and facilitating illicit payments.
They include Muhammed Khadir Pirot, who controls payments from people being smuggled from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region to Europe via Turkey using the Hawala system of shadow banking.
Also sanctioned are Mariwan Jamal, who controls money movements through a Hawala banker, who handles payments to people smugglers from migrants in Iraq.
Rafiq Shaqlaway, involved in hawala banking as an adviser to migrants looking to pay smugglers operating routes into Europe via Turkey, has also been sanctioned.
Other Iraqis sanctioned over their involvement in the movement of migrants include Goran Assad Jalal, who was part of an organised crime group which carried migrants in refrigerated lorries from France to the UK at least 10 times between January and March 2019.
Hemin Ali Salih helped smuggle migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries. Dedawan Dazey runs safe houses for migrants in northern France before they are smuggled to the UK.
Roman Ranyaye, an Iraqi people-smuggler, is responsible for the smuggling of migrants from Asia to Europe.
Azad Khoshnaw, Nuzad Khoshnaw and Nihad Mohsin Xoshnaw, all from Iraq, have been sanctioned for their part in supplying boats, engines and other maritime equipment for the flimsy boats used to transport migrants.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy first announced back in January that the UK would become the first country to bring in a sanctions regime targeting organised immigration and irregular migration.
'This is a landmark moment in the government's work to tackle organised immigration crime, reducing irregular migration to the UK," he said.
'From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions.
'My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this – we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.
Others sanctioned include Alen Basil, a former police translator who the Foreign Office says went on to lead a large smuggling network in Serbia, terrorising refugees, with the aid of corrupt policemen.
Basil, reportedly a Syrian-Serb, was found to be living in a house in Serbia worth more than €1 million ($1.17 million), bought with money extorted from countless desperate migrants.
Also sanctioned is Mohammed Tetwani, the self-styled 'King of Horgos', who brutally oversaw a migrant camp in Horgos, Serbia and led the Tetwani people-smuggling gang.
Tetwani and his followers are known for their violent treatment of refugees who decline their services or cannot pay for them. The North African gang has also been sanctioned.
Another North African network, the Kazawi Gang, which controls people-smuggling routes from North Africa into the EU, has also been sanctioned. The gang is known to deal out harsh punishments to migrants who are unable to pay, according to the UK Foreign Office.
Sanctions have also been brought against a company in China that advertised its small boats on an online marketplace explicitly for the purpose of people smuggling.
The boats advertised are of the type often used by criminal gangs in which migrants are packed, before being sent across the English Channel at huge risk to those on board.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
36 minutes ago
- The National
EU-US tariff deal draws mixed reaction with French calling it 'submission'
US President Donald Trump's tariff deal with the European Union drew mixed reviews from the bloc's leaders, with some criticising the agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck. As part of the deal, the EU will pay a 15 per cent tariff on most goods, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. The rate is half of what Mr Trump had previously threatened to impose on imports from the bloc. The EU also agreed to purchase billions of dollars worth of US energy and weapons as part of the deal which also involves no tariffs on US exports to Europe. The EU defended the deal on Monday. 'I'm 100 per cent sure that this deal is better than a trade war with the United States,' Reuters reported EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic as saying. Ms von der Leyen said it was the 'best we could get'. Other leaders across the bloc, however, were less enthusiastic. 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,' French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou wrote on X. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has a close relationship with Mr Trump, said the EU Commissioner did not stand a chance against the US President. 'It wasn't a deal that President Donald Trump made with Ursula von der Leyen. It was Donald Trump eating Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast,' he said on his podcast. The agreement was the latest announced by Washington in Mr Trump's attempts to reset the country's trade relations with its partners. As well as Japan, he announced deals with the UK and Vietnam, and has agreed to a truce with China under which the two economic powers will drastically lower tariffs on each other while negotiations continue. The EU-US agreement was similar to the one Mr Trump made with Japan, in which he set his so-called reciprocal tariffs at 15 per cent. Military dimensions "That was the template for this deal but that does not completely explain why the EU had to sign this deal,' Simon J Evenett, professor at IMD Business School in Lausanne, told The National. 'The principal reason the EU had to sign this deal is because of the continued US military support for Ukraine. That is the geopolitical overlay which created the imperative for the EU signing this deal. "Halving the tariff rate on the bloc would be an obvious attractive proposition for EU exporters, but we should be under no illusion about the importance of the military dimension here.' Together, the EU and US represent about 30 per cent of global trade in goods and services and 43 per cent of global gross domestic product, according to figures from the European Council and the Council of the EU. The EU and US trade in goods last year was valued at €867 billion ($1.01 trillion), with total transatlantic trade in goods and services valued at more than €1.68 trillion, the councils said. Leaders from Sweden and Denmark joined Mr Orban and Mr Bayrou in expressing disappointment with the agreement. Sweden's Minister for Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa noted that the deal would bring the highest tariff rate on Europe in nearly eight decades. 'The agreement doesn't make anyone richer but it may be the least bad option," he said on X. "Increased tariffs are primarily paid by the country's own citizens, which is why most wealthy countries have lowered tariffs against the rest of the world over the past 100 years." Some members of the bloc, however, defended the deal for bringing some clarity to the trade tension between the US and EU. 'This agreement has succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-orientated German economy hard,' Reuters quoted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as saying. Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also said the agreement brings 'much-needed predictability' to Finnish companies and the world economy. 'Work must continue to dismantle trade barriers. Only free transatlantic trade benefits both sides the most,' he wrote. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who also has a friendly relationship with Mr Trump, said she considers it 'positive that there is an agreement'. 'But if I don't see the details I am not able to judge it in the best way,' she said.
The National
36 minutes ago
- The National
Dubai Police fine 431 jet-ski riders in water safety crackdown
Dubai Police have seized 41 jet skis and issued fines to hundreds of rule-breaking riders in a major drive to boost public safety in the emirate's waters. The force said it took action against 431 jet-ski users over a string of offences, including operating the water crafts while under age, riding with expired licences, encroaching on restricted areas such as swimming zones and hotel beaches, breaching permitted usage hours and failing to wear life-jackets. The latest inspection campaign was conducted by police in partnership with the Dubai Maritime Authority. Police did not say when the targeted clamp down took place, nor in which areas of the emirate. Brig Dr Hassan Suhail, director of the Ports Police Station, said the clamp down was launched to reduce injuries caused by reckless use of jet skis and to boost public safety. He reiterated that those caught flouting the rules would face heavy fines. Using a jet ski without a valid licence can lead to a Dh1,000 ($272) penalty, while using them outside of allotted times will result in a Dh2,000 fine. Failing to wear the required protective gear will lead to penalty of Dh3,000 and operating in prohibited areas will result in be met with a Dh5,000 fine. Dubai Police and Dubai Maritime Authority asked jet-ski uses to comply to the laws and regulations to ensure safety. It is the latest step by authorities to ensure jet skiers comply with safety rules as the sport remains popular with residents and tourists. In May, 32 jet skis were seized from rental agencies when officers discovered severe damage or involvement in previous accidents. In 2021, jet skis were banned from entering The Palm in Dubai with immediate effect, after residents complained about high-speed races near swimming zones. A number of jet ski-related deaths have been reported in the UAE. One person was killed and another injured in a jet-ski crash in Dubai in 2020, near The Palm. Fujairah police also reported a death in 2018 when a jet skier died after falling off his vehicle in water near Fujairah city's corniche.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
OPEC+ panel stresses need for full compliance with output limits
An OPEC+ panel on Monday stressed the need for full compliance with oil production agreements, ahead of Sunday's separate gathering of eight OPEC+ members to decide on increasing oil output for September. Ministers from the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which includes top energy ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, convened online for brief talks. The JMMC meets every two months and has the power to call for a full meeting of OPEC+ to address market developments if deemed necessary. "The committee reiterated the critical importance of achieving full conformity and compensation," OPEC said in a statement after the meeting. Compensation cuts are those that some countries, such as Iraq and Kazakhstan, are being asked to carry out to make up for earlier overproduction. The JMMC asked countries that are not fully compliant to submit updated compensation plans by August 18. OPEC, in a post on X late on Friday, said the committee does not hold decision-making authority over production levels, and "its role is limited to monitoring conformity with production adjustments and reviewing overall market conditions". OPEC+, which pumps about half of the world's oil, has been curtailing production for several years to support the market. But it reversed course this year to regain market share, and as U.S. President Donald Trump demanded OPEC pump more to help keep a lid on gasoline prices. Eight members began to raise output in April and since then have accelerated the hikes. Their most recent decision calls for an oil output increase of 548,000 barrels per day in August. The eight countries hold a separate meeting on August 3 and remain likely to agree to a further 548,000 bpd increase for September, three OPEC+ sources said last week, as reported by Reuters earlier this month. This would mean that, by September, OPEC+ would have unwound its most recent production cut of 2.2 million bpd, and the United Arab Emirates would have delivered a 300,000 bpd quota increase ahead of schedule. Oil prices have remained supported despite the OPEC+ increases thanks to summer demand and the fact that some members have not raised production as much as the headline quota hikes have called for. Brent crude was trading above $70 a barrel on Monday. (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Olesya Astakhova and Alex Lawler. Editing by Mark Potter)
