logo
UK sanctions Iraqis in crackdown on people smuggling

UK sanctions Iraqis in crackdown on people smuggling

The National14 hours ago
Criminals linked to Iraq are among the first to be placed under sanctions for their part in the people-smuggling industry.
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.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

UAE welcomes Trump's AI Action Plan, ambassador Al Otaiba says
UAE welcomes Trump's AI Action Plan, ambassador Al Otaiba says

The National

timean hour ago

  • The National

UAE welcomes Trump's AI Action Plan, ambassador Al Otaiba says

The UAE's ambassador to the US commended the AI Action Plan unveiled by the Trump White House on Wednesday. Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba applauded the much-anticipated artificial intelligence plan just hours after several executive orders related to the three-pillared AI strategy were signed by President Donald Trump. 'The UAE welcomes President Trump's AI Action Plan and is ready to fast track our strategic AI partnership with the US, first announced during [President Trump's] May visit to Abu Dhabi,' Mr Al Otaiba posted on social media. 'As a trusted partner, we are working closely with leading US companies to adopt and scale American technology in the UAE and beyond,' he added, referring to the 5GW UAE-US AI Campus announced in May. The UAE ambassador also reflected on the country's commitment to a $1.4 trillion investment framework in the US related to artificial intelligence infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing. 'We are collaboratively setting a new 'Gold Standard' for securing AI models, chips, data and access – delivering lasting benefits for both our nations and the world,' he wrote. A week ago in Pennsylvania at an energy conference, White House cryptocurrency and AI adviser David Sacks also boasted about the UAE's commitment to work with the US. 'I know that our Gulf state partners will honour our security agreement,' Mr Sacks said, talking about US confidence that American-made technology would be protected in the UAE and wouldn't be diverted to potentially adversarial countries. In recent years, the UAE − the Arab world's second-biggest economy − has pursued becoming an AI front-runner, as it seeks to diversify its economy from oil. The country's efforts have resulted in the establishment of start-ups, partnerships and investments from industry leaders like Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI, to name a few. Through the creation of language models such as Falcon Arabic, the UAE has also sought to ensure aspects of Arabic culture are not left behind in the AI surge, with many large language models based on English-language data. In 2019, the UAE announced the establishment of a university dedicated to AI, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.

Syria bloodshed gives US legislators pause over sanctions relief
Syria bloodshed gives US legislators pause over sanctions relief

The National

time4 hours ago

  • The National

Syria bloodshed gives US legislators pause over sanctions relief

Recent violence in Syria is fuelling a debate in the US Congress about whether Washington should end all sanctions against Damascus, a move pushed by President Donald Trump, or take a more incremental approach. Mr Trump has embraced President Ahmad Al Shara since his rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, until recently designated a foreign terrorist organisation, ousted former president Bashar Al Assad in December. Mr Trump last month ordered the lifting of sanctions against Syria. Many of these can be repealed through his executive powers, but eliminating them all would need Congress to repeal the 2019 Caesar Act. Syria has been gripped by violent clashes in Sweida in the south of the country, where forces loyal to Mr Shara's government have been accused of siding with the Bedouin to kill members of the Druze community. After a ceasefire that followed strikes by Israel, the Druze were accused of rekindling the fighting with new attacks. Among those killed was Hosam Saraya, an American of Syrian Druze descent, whose killing at the hands of gunmen was shown on social media. Given the instability, some lawmakers are pushing for a conditions-based lifting of sanctions. Republican Representative Mike Lawler last week introduced a bill that would amend the Caesar Act to allow it to be waived only if the Syrian government is not targeting civilians, among other provisions. 'The Al Shara Administration certainly has a lot of work to do to reintegrate Syria with the US and our allies,' said Mr Lawler, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the Financial Services Committee. 'While this job should be difficult given the circumstances, it shouldn't be impossible.' But fellow Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who also sits on the Middle East panel, wants a clean, unconditional repeal of the Caesar Act, saying that is in line with President Trump's agenda for Syria. 'I hope that the Financial Services Committee reconsiders this measure and takes more time to study and work on Syria sanctions. A clean repeal of the Caesar Act promotes stability,' he wrote on X. Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, agrees with Mr Wilson's approach. She has introduced an amendment that would fully repeal the Caesar Act. The Syrian Emergency Task Force, which works to help build democracy in Syria and played a significant role in nudging the Trump administration to scrap sanctions, urged legislators to vote against Mr Lawler's bill. 'This bill undermines President Trump's new Syria policy and extends damaging sanctions until 2028 – sanctions meant for Assad, not the Syrian people,' the SETF said in a statement.

Hamas agrees to a 60-day truce in partial response to latest Gaza proposals
Hamas agrees to a 60-day truce in partial response to latest Gaza proposals

The National

time4 hours ago

  • The National

Hamas agrees to a 60-day truce in partial response to latest Gaza proposals

Hamas has given mediators a partial and initial response to proposals for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal but was expected to shortly hand them a final reply, sources told The National on Wednesday. They said Hamas has unconditionally agreed to a 60-day truce during which sufficient humanitarian assistance will enter Gaza, chiefly through the Rafah crossing with Egypt in the south of the war-battered enclave. Hamas has also agreed in principle to most of the maps Israel presented for the redeployment of its troops in Gaza, but wants them to pull out from Deir Al Balah in central Gaza – the theatre of a major continuing military operation by Israel – as well as Khan Younis in the south, the sources said. 'Hamas is reviewing the maps with other resistance factions in Gaza,' said one of the sources. 'We expect Hamas's final and full response within hours, but that can change.' The sources spoke as President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to arrive in Europe on Thursday and Qatar on Friday, a sign that in the past has been interpreted to mean a deal was within reach. However, optimism that mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US were on the cusp of getting Israel and Hamas to agree to a deal has previously proved premature because of the intransigence of both Israel and Hamas. Israel's President Isaac Herzog struck an upbeat note on Wednesday during a visit to Gaza, telling soldiers there were 'intensive negotiations' about returning the hostages held there. He said he hoped the soldiers will soon 'hear good news', according to a statement from the President's spokesperson. Hamas, however, is yet to provide a final list of the names of the hundreds of Palestinians it wants released from Israeli prisons as part of the deal, they said. The list is likely to include high-profile Palestinians serving long jail terms whom Hamas wants freed but Israel insists on keeping them incarcerated, they said. They include Marwan Barghouti, a senior leader of the mainstream Fatah faction who is widely tipped to be a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas was also expected to provide mediators with its final timeline for the release of 10 Israeli hostages and the remains of 18 others who died in captivity, according to the sources. Hamas has previously proposed the release of the hostages in batches throughout the 60-day truce to ensure Israel's compliance with the terms of the agreement, but it appears that Israel has rejected that timeline and suggested an alternative, which Hamas is reviewing. Hamas is believed to be holding around 50 hostages, of whom 20 are thought by the Israeli military to be alive. Beside the truce and flow of relief aid into Gaza, where starvation is claiming more and more lives, the key provisions of the latest proposals include discussions on a long-term ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Hamas had wanted US guarantees that these talks would continue until an agreement is reached, but the sources said Hamas appears to have dropped that condition. Israel, moreover, insists the war in Gaza will not end until Hamas's military and governing capabilities have been fully dismantled and all the hostages released. It's also demanding that Hamas lays down its arms and its leaders leave the territory to live in exile with their families. Hamas has rejected Israel's demand that it surrenders its arms. Instead it suggested it was open to discussions on laying down its arms and storing them under international supervision when a long-term ceasefire is in place. It has agreed to the departure into exile of its leaders provided that they and their families are not targeted by Israel. The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas and its allies attacked southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 and taking another 250 hostage. Israel's response has been a devastating military campaign that has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians and injured more than twice that many, according to Gaza's health ministry. Nearly all the coastal enclave's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, more than once in many cases, and large swathes of built-up areas reduced to rubble.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store