Rare jail interview reveals Kurdish gangs behind Channel small boat crossings

A rare investigation has gained access to a Kurdish jail in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, and spoken to a convicted people smuggler for the first time behind bars. The prisoner was jailed for smuggling people into Iraq's Kurdistan region on a route that, for many migrants, is a step towards Europe and eventually the UK.

He described packing about 20 people into a truck and covering it with a tarpaulin so no one could see them. The truck then used smuggler routes and avoided security checkpoints. He said he smuggled others to make money so he could be smuggled himself, with Britain as his goal.

The Home Office says these gangs have helped more than 19,000 people make the crossing in small boats so far this year. The figures come in the same week that two women and a 10-year-old child drowned in the Channel while trying to cross.

The smuggler said reaching the UK still looks easy from his position. He had been told that arriving in France is like being in Britain, because the trip from France to Britain is very easy. He added that getting from Kurdistan to France is difficult, but once in France, you are already in the UK. He did not believe anti-migrant protests in the UK would deter people. He said people will go regardless, because friends in Europe laugh when told of £10-a-day earnings while they earn £100 to £200. He also said people he knew left in 2020 and came back from the UK last year with luxury cars such as Cadillacs.

On the outskirts of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdish security forces intercepted a fuel tanker carrying a hidden group of migrants. Kurdish authorities said the exclusive images showed the challenge of stopping people flowing into Iraq and, for some, onwards into Europe. From the streets and bazaars of Kurdistan, the smuggling networks stretch to the English Channel.

Money is central to the trade. In Sulaymaniyah's money markets, informal finance is the lifeblood of smuggling. One office allowed a bag of local currency to be shown. Sending money from Kurdistan to anywhere in the world does not work like a traditional bank system. It uses personal connections and other links to move money quickly. That system is crucial for people smuggling, and money moves from Kurdistan to pay for people to be smuggled into Europe and then across the Channel to Britain.

Kurdish gangs may be central to the trade, but the Asayish, Kurdish internal security forces, say they are cracking down. A security official said that when it comes to people smuggling in the English Channel, Kurdish authorities can only help through intelligence sharing with Britain's National Crime Agency. He said they are trying to reduce the problem and have done what they can within their jurisdiction, but the crime does not come only from Kurdistan.

The crackdown appears to be having some effect. More smugglers are behind bars, and those still at large are more nervous about talking. An interview with an international affairs editor said nearly all Channel crossings are run by Kurdish organised crime gangs. He described them as tightly knit and honour-bound, and said they use the hawala informal money transfer system to organise operations over thousands of miles and guarantee payment for delivery of people across the Channel. He said the gangs are a difficult nut to crack. The laws of demand and supply still apply. Demand remains because, for many people, the journey is an economic proposition. People from Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Gaza are also among those reaching the UK.

In northern France, the investigation went to the coast at the time of day when gangs pick up their human cargo. Police activity was visible, but no smugglers. A radio report then said a dinghy had been spotted. A few miles out, the team found a tiny craft barely visible on open water. It was low in the water and approaching the shipping lane through the English Channel, the busiest shipping lane in the world. The French Coast Guard said it follows dinghies to render assistance if necessary under international maritime law before handing them over to British counterparts. The next day, a helicopter filmed another dinghy far out in the Channel heading for Britain, one of many making the crossing that week.

Near the coast, a group who had tried and failed that morning after police intercepted their boat would not go on camera. Those who spoke said they had been trying all summer. The demand to cross the narrow stretch of water to Britain remains as strong as ever. While it is still possible to get there, many more will keep trying.