Home Office launches ads in Iraq to deter small boat crossings

The Home Office is launching an advertising campaign in Iraq to try to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Similar campaigns were launched in Albania and Vietnam by the previous Conservative government in 2023 and 2024.

On Sunday, 592 migrants in 11 boats crossed the Channel, according to figures from the Home Office. That represents the highest total for a day in March on record.

Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “Ruthless criminal gangs spread dangerous lies on social media to exploit people for money, and we are exposing them using the real stories of their victims.”

However, the Refugee Council said someone desperate to flee persecution in their homeland would be unlikely to change their mind because of a social media campaign.

One advert shows an image of a destroyed dinghy floating in the water and testimony from a man saying “the boat was too crowded” and “people disappeared into the sea”.

Another features an account of one woman who says: “I was promised a well-paid job. Instead I was a slave.”

So far this year 2,716 people have made the crossing – an increase of 20% on the same period last year, although numbers are down on the year before that.

In 2024 as a whole, 36,816 people were detected making the crossing, and more than 2,000 of those came from Iraq.

The Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, visited the country last week in an effort to increase international co-operation to tackle the criminal gangs organising the journeys.

Hewitt said: “Our international campaign is sending a clear message to prospective migrants that these criminals cannot be trusted.”

The advertisements – initially focused on the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq – will be displayed on social media, apps and news websites.

Separately, the Home Office says that UK ministers are set to sign a joint communique with the Vietnamese government agreeing to “build on our joint work to prevent the exploitation of irregular migrants, disrupt criminal gang operations, strengthen intelligence sharing and return those with no right to be in the UK”.

As prime minister, Rishi Sunak said “stopping the boats” was one of his key priorities and he tried to implement the Rwanda plan, which aimed to deter crossings by threatening to send arrivals to the African country.

However, the scheme was held up by legal challenges and the 2024 general election was called before the scheme could be implemented.

On coming to office, Labour immediately abandoned the plan and instead said they wanted to focus on tackling the criminal gangs organising the small boat crossings.