Overview

• Home Office minister Dan Jarvis and Iraq’s deputy foreign minister Faud Hussein signed the agreement during an Iraqi delegation’s visit to the UK.
• The Home Office says the deal will enable the swift return of Iraqi nationals found to have no legal right to remain and is designed to deter dangerous crossings.
• Official data shows Iraqi small‑boat arrivals fell to 1,900 in the year to March 2025, down from 2,600 the previous year.
• The move builds on an earlier UK–Iraq package of about £800,000 for training and border security and sits alongside returns arrangements with Albania, Vietnam and France.
• Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticized the plan, arguing that relatively few small‑boat arrivals are Iraqi and calling the agreement a sham.