UK launches ad campaign to dissuade Iraqi Kurds from migrating
The British government has launched an advertising campaign targeting the Kurdish region of Iraq, warning residents not to attempt to travel to the UK to seek asylum.
The online campaign, issued by the Home Office in Sorani Kurdish, aims to deter people from attempting to cross the sea from France to the UK, a dangerous path that 36,816 people took in 2024, with 69 losing their lives in the process.
More than 2,000 of those attempting the crossing came from Iraq.
The ads highlight the dangers posed by the crossing, quoting some of those who attempted the journey warning that "people disappeared into the sea" and that the transport was too crowded.
One woman in a video, her identity obscured, says she was "was promised a well-paid job - instead I was a slave".
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"Immigrants tell you illegal immigration to the UK is a risk-free and easy task and can provide you a happy life here," reads one of the ads. "But this statement is far from the truth."
Immigration has been a hot issue in the UK in recent years, with the frequent asylum-seeker crossings across the English Channel sparking a panic about "illegal" entry into the country.
On 2 March alone, 592 migrants made the journey across the busy shipping lane in 11 boats, the highest number on a single day so far this year.
A photo from the ad campaign warning potential migrants about the danger of crossing the English Channel in small boats (UK Home Office)
Iraq's Kurdistan region has been a prominent source of migration to the UK and Europe as a whole in recent years.
The semi-autonomous region has been suffering from severe problems around unemployment, corruption and the non-payment of wages. People have also fled the country following threats by armed groups and repression by the ruling Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Over the past few years, a number of travel agencies in Kurdistan have advertised travel to the borders of Europe, from where people can pay thousands of dollars to smugglers to cross to Western Europe.
In November, the UK and Iraq signed what they called a "world-first" security agreement to crack down on smuggling and strengthen border security.
The Home Office said that around £300,000 from the UK Integrated Security Fund would be spent on training at the border to counter organised immigration crime and drug trafficking.
Poland-Belarus: Iraqi Kurdish refugees reject offer to return to hardship at home Read More »
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the agreement would help tackle the "evil trade in human lives".
"There are smuggler gangs profiting from dangerous small boat crossings whose operations stretch back through northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond," Cooper said.
"Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too."
Rights groups and refugee campaigners in the UK have criticised policies brought in by successive governments that have restricted the ability of asylum seekers to travel to the country through safe and legal means.
New guidance issued by the Labour government last month said that anyone who enters the UK illegally having made a dangerous journey would normally be refused citizenship.
This led some commentators to suggest the UK could be in violation of its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
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JD Vance's mentor co-founded company that helps Israel generate 'kill lists' of Palestinians in Gaza Read More » Several journalists have also been targeted by the LAPD in the past several days, with some reporting injuries from rubber bullets and tear gas. On Sunday, a clip went viral of an LAPD officer shooting an Australian journalist in the leg with a rubber bullet. Protesters have responded by slashing the tires, spray painting and breaking the windows of police vehicles. In one instance, protesters on an overpass threw Lime scooters at police vehicles parked below. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass condemned the deployment of the National Guard. However, Bass thanked the LAPD and threatened consequences for those involved in 'violence, destruction and vandalism'. Bass did not mention the LAPD's violence. What is the significance of the National Guard being deployed? Typically, a state's National Guard is only deployed after a request from the state's governor. On Sunday, Trump deployed the National Guard without the governor's authorisation for the first time since 1965. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Saturday also threatened to deploy 500 Marines to Los Angeles. California Governor Gavin Newsom requested that Trump rescind the deployment of the National Guard and accused Trump of trying to 'manufacture a crisis'. Trump's willingness to send in the National Guard without authorisation is reminiscent of his actions during the George Floyd protests of 2020, when masked federal agents indiscriminately detained protestors off the streets. However, the LAPD, not the National Guard, was responsible for most of the violence this weekend. What might happen next? In Los Angeles, protests are continuing. ICE raids on a Home Depot on Monday are already being met with resistance. The intensity of the opposition to ICE's presence could make federal authorities reconsider more incursions in Los Angeles. Protests have also spread to New York and San Francisco. In San Francisco, at least 150 protestors were arrested on Sunday evening after police declared an anti-ICE protest unlawful. Protestors spray-painted anti-ICE messages on police vehicles and damaged the windows of a Chase Bank. Earlier, on Saturday, protesters demonstrated against the transfer of undocumented immigrants detained by ICE in New York City. Over 20 people were arrested, with one protester being taken away in an ambulance. There have been several indications that more protests could expand in New York this week.
