The British government announced on August 20 that it has concluded a new agreement with Iraq to return illegal migrants as part of broader steps to curb migration.

According to British news agency PA Media, the agreement was signed by British Home Secretary Dan Jarvis MP and Iraq’s deputy foreign minister Faud Hussein. 

The agreement will establish a formal process for returning both Arab Iraqis and Kurdish Iraqis who arrived in the United Kingdom and have no right to remain in the country.

The UK has previously said it is safe to return failed migrants from Iraq due to the safety of the country’s Kurdistan region and the ability for those people to return home.

Some 108,138 asylum claims were made in 2024, the highest on record since 1979. Among the top nationalities seeking asylum were Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, but Iraq does not appear in the very top list for that year, suggesting that many Iraqis are registered as other nationalities when entering.

Jarvis wrote on his social media page, "Our new migration agreement reinforces the strength of the UK-Iraq partnership…By working together on security and migration challenges, we are building stronger relationships and tackling shared challenges like serious organised crime and irregular migration.”

Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdish officials have not yet officially commented on the plan to return people.

The announcement on August 20 comes after a GBP800,000 ($1.077mn) agreement signed with Baghdad last year to help the country eliminate smuggling networks and organised crime.

Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani agreed to enhance cooperation on migration.

British Home Office statistics showed that since the previous agreements, the number of Iraqis arriving in the UK by small boats has decreased.

The latest illegal migrant return agreement is part of London's policies to stop small boat crossings across the English Channel.

Britain has made other similar agreements with Albania and Vietnam since the Labour government came into power in 2024.

In a separate deal with France, Britain will also return illegal migrants entering the country to the country in a trial “one for one” deal with asylum seekers already registered in France.