Starmer Eyes Migrant Returns Deal in Talks With Iraqi Leader
- Iraqis are a top nationality arriving in UK on small boats
- Premiers also set to sign £12 billion UK-Iraq export deal
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer aims to start talks on a migrant returns agreement with Iraq when he welcomes his counterpart from the middle eastern nation, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, to Downing Street on Tuesday.
Starmer has made reducing migration to the UK one of his top priorities and is seeking to streamline the processing of thousands of Iraqis arriving in the UK every year through so-called “irregular” routes. Some 16,499 Iraqis arrived in the UK between January 2020 and September 2024 on small boats across the English Channel, or 12% of the total during that time.