Lahur Talabani seen here with Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Supplied )
Labour has been warned it must act now to stop a “huge wave” of new migrants flooding the UK from a region of Iraq at the centre of a family feud. It comes following unrest in August which saw the arrest and imprisonment of two British-Kurdish brothers who have been instrumental in defeating ISIS.
Lahur and Polad Talabani grew up in Beckenham, south east London, after their families fled persecution of Kurds under Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq. They later became war heroes after returning to Iraq to fight for the feared Kurdish Peshmerga counter-terror group against Islamic State. During the conflict, Millwall fan Polad, 46, headed up the Peshmerga and Lahur, 49, became the intelligence chief.
But now disaster has struck after the pair, who were active in Kurdistani regional politics, were seized on August 22 in the Sulaymaniyah region of north-east Iraq. In a shocking twist, the person who has imprisoned the Talabani brothers is their cousin Bafel Talabani, a former London bouncer who is now President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Bafel, who also grew up in Beckenham, claims Lahur tried to have him killed and planned to assassinate his brother, Qubad. His office also accused Lahur of staging an “unlawful military coup”.
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British citizen Lahur Talabani has been jailed by his cousin in Iraq (Image: Supplied )
Speaking at an event in Iraq last week, Bafel said there was “overwhelming” evidence against his “dear cousins” which he said “cannot be forged”.
Lahur and Polad’s relatives told the Daily Express the jailed brothers were behind no such plot and that they have been kept in two-metre by two-metre cells with no windows for 23 hours a day. No date for a court case has been set. The pair’s older brother Hiwa Talabani, 59, said the family were “very disappointed” in the response from the British Government and Foreign Office in helping free the brothers.
“My brothers, with the rest of the people who have been in prison now, are war heroes who fought with the British and American and allied troops,” he said.
“They fought with Britain against ISIS to save Iraq and the West, and now they have been left rotting in prison. We are expecting more from the British Government because this region has been a beacon of stability since the fall of Saddam Hussein.”
In a further worrying development, Hiwa claimed the instability caused by the feud was causing Kurds to flee the region and attempt to reach Britain using people smugglers.
He added: “We expect a huge wave of migrants coming to the UK in the next six months because of this crisis and they will all be victims of the people smuggling gangs which Sir Keir has vowed to smash.
“This situation will become the British Government’s problem and the British people’s problem, so we are asking the Prime Minister to get my brothers free from prison.”
Lahur and Polad’s brother’s claims were supported by a former Home Office Kurdish translator, who spoke to the Daily Express on the condition of anonymity.
He said he was aware of arrivals already coming to Britain via the Channel boat route because of the crisis. “100%, many people are coming and will come because of what has happened, it’s like under Saddam’s time, people are very scared,” he said.
“In Sulaymaniyah now it is very scary. Many, many people are trying to leave, people who supported Lahur and others. They don’t feel safe.”
The latest data from the Home Office concerning nationalities of migrants crossing the Channel in “small boat arrivals” shows between the first and second quarter of 2025 the number of migrants coming from Iraq, which includes the Kurdish region, has increased by more than 100%.
Bafel Talabani is the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (Image: Getty )
The huge spike could be embarrassing for Labour which signed an agreement with Iraqi officials in August vowing to “deter small boat crossings and undermine organised criminal gangs”. Keir Starmer and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani committed earlier this year to enhance migration cooperation between both countries, with Britain pledging £800,000 towards law enforcement training and tackling “people smuggling, organised immigration crime and drug flows”.
A former senior official at the Foreign Office, who wished to speak off the record, said contacts in other governments in the region had expressed the sentiment along the lines of “crikey, the Kurds are in turmoil”.
He said: “It’s like Middle East-enders, or like the TV show The Succession, what’s being told to me is that Bafel is a bit of a psychotic nutter, as someone described him. People are saying it’s absurd that Lahur is in prison and ‘what the f**k is going on?’”
Sleman Muhsen, Director General of Media and Relations in the Independent Human Rights Commission in Kurdistan region, has followed the case since Lahur and Polad were seized.
He said: “We know that the British Consul visited Lahur Talabani in prison because he is a British citizen, but beyond that, we are unaware of any actions.
“Neither of the two countries (the US and UK) has made any attempts to secure Lahur Talabani’s release. We call on both governments to conduct a deeper investigation into the case to ensure that it does not violate their own laws.
“This conflict has had a very negative impact on the people of Sulaymaniyah and has caused significant damage to their homes. The residents of the neighbourhood, the people of Sulaymaniyah in particular, and Kurdistan in general, were dissatisfied with this action.”
Mr Muhsen, who was the first to visit Lahur in prison, said heavy weapons and machine guns were used during the arrest of Lahur and that “several people were injured, and more than 200 individuals are still being held in the prisons” as a result.
He added: “We are concerned about the fate and treatment of all these prisoners from the very first day of the incident.”
A former UK special forces member with first-hand knowledge of Lahur and Polad’s role in helping the coalition defeat ISIS told the Express: “Lahur and Polad were a massive help, they were extremely well-connected with both the US and UK governments.
“They have fought against terrorist groups both within Iraq, and within Syria. At one stage Lahur was the commander, but then he became the head of intelligence, and his brother Polad took over. I’ve known those lads for 20 years.”
The source said it was “saddening” to see the two men jailed, adding: “They are both extremely likeable individuals.
“Since this has happened, I have a lot of Kurdish friends and they know that without the unity within the PUK there are going to be problems.”
Polad Talabani (right) fought against ISIS with Lahur after returning to the region from London (Image: Getty )
In a statement, Bafel’s representative said his appearance at the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) Forum in Erbil, Iraq, last week “reflects the official position of Bafel Jalal Talabani on the matter”.
During an interview at the forum, which was done before a large audience, Bafel, who has a heavily accented London twang, said “there are no divisions in the PUK”, and when asked about opposition leaders in jail in Sulaymaniyah, Bafel said: “If you’re very politely talking the question of my dear cousins, having a political party is not a shield against brigandry… and neither does it provide you an access or escape from the judiciary.
“Lahur and his faction, the evidence against them is overwhelming and the evidence against them is evidence that cannot be forged, it is evidence that cannot be created.
“We’re not talking about confessions, we’re talking about telephones, hard drives, drones, computers, weapons, ID cards, insurmountable evidence… as well as Mr Lahur’s own words, it was Lahur that went on television and said ‘I have a militia and I will fight to the death’.
“Being a political leader doesn’t put you above the law. It doesn’t mean that you can plan to kill your political opposition, it doesn’t mean you can rob from the business community, and it gives you no safety net from the judiciary, and nor should it frankly.”
The numbers of migrants from Iraq crossing the Channel increased by 100% in 2025 (Image: PA )
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was seeking to deepen cooperation with both the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to “tackle irregular migration to the UK and prevent Iraqis risking their lives”. They added that efforts were being made on the ground to “tackle organised criminal groups that facilitate these journeys” and “address factors that drive migration”.
When asked about the imprisonment of Lahur Talabani, an FCDO Spokesperson told the Daily Express: “We are supporting a British man detained in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and are in contact with the local authorities.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government is taking robust action to end dangerous small boat crossings, which put lives at risk and undermine our border security, by dismantling the business models of people smugglers and strengthening international cooperation.
“We continue to work closely with the Kurdistan Regional Government and international partners to address the drivers of migration and our returns agreement with Iraq ensures those coming to the UK illegally will be returned swiftly.”