UK in talks about payments to help stop migrant flows

LONDON: The UK government is believed to be in talks with Turkiye, Vietnam and officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq about possible payments to help slow the flow of migrants heading for Britain, the Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters it was the right thing for Britain to dissuade people from leaving their home countries and making the journey which often involves perilous crossings of the Channel, the Times said.

Starmer told reporters travelling with him to a Group of 20 summit in Brazil that the government had plans to tackle criminal gangs involved in people smuggling.

“Anything else we can do to stop people leaving in the first place is the right thing,” he was quoted as saying.

The Times said interior minister Yvette Cooper was understood to be in discussions with a number of governments, including those of Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of Iraq, Turkiye and Vietnam, about cooperation and security agreements that could be concluded before the end of the year.

A spokesperson for Starmer in London declined to comment on the report.

Starmer had praised Italy’s efforts to tackle illegal immigration during a visit to Rome in September, including its work to prevent migrants from starting their journeys.

Since the general election in July 9,400 illegally arrived migrants have been returned to the countries that they came from.

The Sunday Times reported that the government was in talks with Kurdistan in Iraq, Turkiye and Vietnam about new “co-operation and security” deals about migrants that are expected to be confirmed by the end of next month.

Italy has been able to cut crossings by nearly two thirds after deals were struck with Tunisia and Libya.

Asked directly about paying countries to stop migrants leaving their countries and heading to the UK, Starmer said: “Bearing down on the gangs is really important and that’s why I was very pleased to see the arrest on Thursday.

“Anything else we can do to stop people leaving in the first place is the right thing, whatever point of impact and then obviously the returns are very important when people do get here, that’s why I am pleased a large number of people have been returned.”