UK and Iraq sign security pact to target people smuggling gangs

London (Reuters): Britain said on Thursday it had signed a security pact with Iraq to target people-smuggling gangs and strengthen border cooperation, the latest in its efforts to crack down on illegal migration.

"There are smuggler gangs profiting from dangerous small boat crossings whose operations stretch back through Northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond," Britain's interior minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement.

"Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too," she said during a visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Britain will also support Iraqi law enforcement to tackle other serious organised crime, including countering narcotics, the statement added.