The UK-Iraq border deal is a betrayal of vulnerable communities

Guest post by Alannah Travers and Sana Murrani. Previously based in Iraq where she worked with displaced communities and Genocide survivors, Alannah is currently completing an LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice, at SOAS University, focused on IHL and the use of force, Islamic Law, prohibition of torture, and International Human Rights protection. Sana is a British-Iraqi advocate for spatial justice in the Middle East and PI for the Ruptured Atlas project. She is Associate Professor in Spatial Practice at the University of Plymouth and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. You can find her @sanamurrani.bsky.social

The recent announcement of a UK-Iraq border security pact demands urgent scrutiny, particularly from those of us who have worked closely with displaced and vulnerable communities in Iraq. Framed as a measure to combat organised crime, the agreement risks exacerbating the precarity of those it purports to protect. Having witnessed firsthand the struggles of so many in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, we find this policy both short-sighted and morally indefensible. Based on our experiences working with displaced communities in Iraq, we consider that this “deal” represents not only a failure of compassion, but an outright assault on the most vulnerable. Below we explain why.

A crisis rooted in conflict and neglect

Iraq remains deeply scarred by decades of war, politically and economically unstable. Under these conditions, displacement is not merely a consequence of smuggling networks; it is rooted in systemic issues that have forced people to flee their homes. From the UK-backed 2003 invasion, the rise of insurgency and sectarian violence, to the 2014 Yazidi genocide and destruction wrought by the so-called Islamic State across the country, millions of Iraqis have been uprooted, their lives disrupted by circumstances beyond their control.

The UK now presents itself as a partner in solving Iraq’s problems while conveniently ignoring its own destructive legacy. The 2003 invasion of Iraq dismantled the country’s institutions and left a power vacuum that continues to destabilise the region. Millions were displaced by a war built on lies, and its aftermath has seen the UK shirk its responsibility to those it uprooted – and, indeed, directly harmed.

In our own research into Iraq’s displaced communities we have seen how people often face impossible choices. Many are left with no viable option but to seek refuge elsewhere, often relying on irregular migration routes because formal pathways are inaccessible or insufficient. The deal’s focus on "deterrence" overlooks the lived realities of these displaced Iraqis. For many, the risks of staying – violence, discrimination, persecution, and poverty – with around 160,000 Iraqis still living in internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps, with no means to return to their destroyed homes, villages and livelihoods – far outweigh the dangers of irregular migration. Policies that fail to acknowledge this reality are not just ineffective; they are doomed to fail.

Ruptured Atlas

In a research project conducted in collaboration with Yazidis in the north of Iraq called Ruptured Atlas, we revealed the human cost of such an approach. A few shared with us their attempts to leave Iraq via Türkiye, then Greece and into Europe. The majority speak of the humiliation, the suffering and the sheer fear as they made the treacherous journey across the Turkish mountains and into the Greek border. They all reported leaving Iraq to Türkiye on a visitor visa, their smuggling journeys embroidered with lies and deceits, as they describe them, starting in Türkiye not Iraq.

Ghazi’s story illustrates the profound challenges faced by Yazidis displaced by the 2014 genocide and the continued failures of international migration systems. As a young man, he twice attempted to leave Iraq using irregular migration routes, hoping for family reunification and safety in Europe. In 2016, Ghazi embarked on a harrowing 17-hour trek through snow-covered mountains to reach Türkiye, only to return after hearing of other Yazidis dying at sea. Despite the risks, his family made another attempt in 2019, where they endured inhumane treatment, insults, and squalid detention centres at the Turkish border.

Under these circumstances Ghazi had little choice but to stay in Iraq. His family still wishes to leave – yet they cannot obtain a visa. The UK's border security pact with Iraq, which targets smuggling networks without addressing this lack of legal migration pathways, pushes people like Ghazi into danger. By focusing solely on enforcement, this deal leaves many without an alternative to again risk their lives in the hope of safety.

A misguided approach to “security”

The framing of the UK-Iraq agreement as a security measure exposes its true aim: containment, not care. Rather than investing in militarised border controls, the UK could and should focus on the root causes of displacement. This would include supporting local development, pushing Iraqi authorities to provide sustainable humanitarian aid, and expanding resettlement programmes for those who have been forced to flee their homes. Iraq's infrastructure for displaced persons is in disarray, with underfunded camps, insufficient services, and a government system with too many cracks, incapable of providing basic protection.

The human cost

This agreement fails to account for any of the human costs of these policies. Iraqis are individuals with stories, aspirations, and a desire for dignity – which includes justice and accountability. Each person forced into the hands of smugglers is a testament to the failure of the international community to achieve this. The Ruptured Atlas project contains detailed story-maps explicitly detailing smuggling networks’ techniques of intimidation, discrimination and exploitation. Zelal’s story reveals, in detailed maps she created, the traumatising failed journey she took in 2021 with her husband and other relatives as they decided to leave Iraq to Europe, across the Turkish border aiming to reach the Yazidi camp in Greece. A snippet of Zelal’s journey told in 2024 of the failed crossing at the Turkish-Greek border.

As we write this, we think of the families we met in protracted displacement and informal settlements around Mosul, some of whom were forcibly returned, Syrian refugees in camps adjacent to toxic gas flaring, and the tens of thousands of Yazidis still living in canvas tents in the northern Kurdistan Region of Iraq. For the millions of young men in limbo, and the women who risk everything to secure a future for their children, this border security pact is yet another obstacle in an already perilous journey. It also represents a wasteful allocation of £750,000 to be spent on law enforcement training and capacity building in border security in the Kurdistan Region and wider Iraqi region, while leaving nothing to address the deficiencies in humanitarian aid and development for those who have been displaced for decades.

The call for justice

If the UK is serious about addressing irregular migration, it must move beyond punitive and securitised approaches. The answer to irregular migration is not more walls, AI border tech, or deals with governments ill-equipped to protect their own citizens. Instead, it is a commitment to justice, investing in solutions that prioritise the rights and dignity of Iraqis by creating safe and legal migration pathways, supporting community-led initiatives in Iraq, and addressing the structural inequalities behind the root causes of displacement driving mass displacement in the first place, including Iraq’s rapidly heating climate. We must fulfill our moral obligations to those whose suffering we have helped create, and above all, engage displaced Iraqis in decision and policy-making for their own future justice and prosperity.