London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

UK about to deport up to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers to Iraq despite dangers

UK about to deport up to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers to Iraq despite dangers

Foreign Office warns against all travel to the country where Islamic State is still a threat
Up to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers are facing deportation to Iraq in the first Home Office flight of its kind for a decade.

Iraq is deemed to be so dangerous that the Foreign Office warns against all travel there, warning of “a high threat of kidnapping throughout the country including from both Daesh [Islamic State] and other terrorist and militia groups”.

Home Office contractors involved with Tuesday’s deportation have had to undergo special training to help them deal with the risk of dangers such as kidnap or hostage situations. This training is not required for other recent destinations of Home Office deportation charter flights, such as Jamaica and Albania. The flight is scheduled to land in Erbil in northern Iraq, where the Kurdistan regional government is in control.

Protests against the flight took place on Monday in both London and Kurdistan. Many of those due to be deported are either asylum seekers or refugees in the UK and have families and children here. Some, speaking from inside detention centres, told the Guardian they have embarked on hunger strikes.

One man facing deportation said: “The whole process is shambolic. We are human beings. I’ve been here 20 years. I’ve got A-levels. I speak six different languages. I’m not a criminal or drug dealer, I haven’t done anything. The more I think about it, the more I get upset.”

Another man, a 35-year-old asylum seeker who arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry at the age of 15, speaking from his cell in detention on Monday afternoon told the Guardian that everyone due to be put on Tuesday’s flight was in a state of panic and fear. “I swear that every single person returned to Kurdistan will be in danger,” he said.

“Some have already received threats. We are worried that we will be grabbed as soon as we arrive at the airport in Erbil. In my country some people wouldn’t think twice about shooting us in the head. There are some ruthless people there.”

Bella Sankey, director of the charity Detention Action, said: “We know of at least 11 people with British children and grandchildren who could be deported to Iraqi Kurdistan. Many escaped here decades ago from the violence and turmoil in that region.

“With the persecution of protesters, religious minorities, children and LGBT+ people continuing in Iraqi Kurdistan, Priti Patel is displaying, once again, her complete disregard for the safety and human rights of people who have rebuilt their lives in our communities.”

Karen Doyle from Movement For Justice, an organisation that has been campaigning against Tuesday’s charter flight, said: “The Home Office is planning to send traumatised torture survivors to a dangerous and unstable region in a move which shows utter disregard for human life.

“The men we have been speaking to have made their lives in the UK and have wives and children here. Many have been unable to secure legal representation while detained. This government is ignoring individual traumas of those due to fly.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We make no apology for removing foreign criminals and those with no right to remain in the UK. This is what the public rightly expects and why we regularly operate flights to different countries.

“Individuals are only returned when the Home Office and, where applicable, the courts deem it is safe to do so. The New Plan for Immigration will fix the broken immigration system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×