ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday received British home secretary Yvette Cooper in Erbil, discussing bilateral cooperation, and efforts to strengthen regional security.
A statement from the Kurdistan Region presidency said Wednesday’s meeting discussed “strengthening” relations between Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and the United Kingdom, with a focus on security cooperation and combating organized crime, illegal migration, human trafficking, money laundering, and cybercrime.
Earlier this month, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) told Rudaw that it maintains positive relations with law enforcement partners in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, cooperating against “shared threats,” including organized immigration crime.
Kurdish criminal groups control the increasingly lucrative cross-Channel migration routes, according to the NCA, which said in its 2023 assessment that the groups are mainly based in northern Europe.
Every year, tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region seek to escape endless crises of lack of employment, political instability, and corruption by joining thousands of others from scores of countries taking perilous routes to Europe. The UK is a popular destination for many people, but crossing the English Channel is dangerous and can be deadly.
Barzani “commended the United Kingdom for its contributions to fostering regional stability and its support in advancing the security and administrative capacities” according to the statement from his office.
Cooper “expressed her country's continued commitment to support and cooperate” with the Region and Iraq, it added.
The two also discussed the government formation process, coinciding with the launch of official talks among parties elected in October to form a new government. The talks follow a presidential decree calling on lawmakers to hold their first session on December 2.
Cooper, during her visit to Baghdad on Tuesday, met with her Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, where they signed “a memorandum of security cooperation… to develop joint efforts in combating drugs and cross-border crime,” according to Shammari in a post on Facebook.
