Reform said the deportations could include returns to Afghanistan, Eritrea and other nations that are among the biggest sources of arrivals…reports Asian Lite News
Reform UK has unveiled radical new proposals to deport asylum seekers who arrive in Britain by small boats, with leader Nigel Farage insisting that mass expulsions are the only way to address what he described as a “massive crisis” threatening national security.
Farage, speaking to The Times, claimed the government’s failure to control migration across the Channel was fuelling public anger and warned that disorder was not far away if the issue continued unchecked. His party’s proposals, published under the banner of an Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill, would see asylum seekers arrested upon arrival, held in detention on disused RAF bases, and swiftly removed from the country.
Reform said the deportations could include returns to Afghanistan, Eritrea and other nations that are among the biggest sources of arrivals. Where direct repatriation was not possible, the party would consider sending migrants to British overseas territories such as Ascension Island, or striking deals with third countries including Rwanda and Albania to process asylum claims.
Farage insisted the message would be clear: “The aim of this legislation is mass deportations. We have a massive crisis in Britain. It is not only posing a national security threat but it’s leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder. There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”
The proposals are likely to face fierce legal and political resistance. Deportations on the scale envisaged would almost certainly be challenged in the courts, with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) acting as a potential barrier. The treaty, which Britain helped draft in 1950, has been repeatedly cited in legal rulings that have prevented deportations, including the Conservatives’ failed Rwanda plan.
Farage has suggested Britain should leave the ECHR altogether, arguing that the convention ties the government’s hands. However, the ECHR is deeply embedded in British human rights law, and withdrawal would mark a dramatic rupture from existing legal norms.
Labour dismissed Reform’s blueprint as “pie in the sky”, accusing Farage of plucking figures “out of thin air” to grab headlines. Angela Eagle, the minister for border security, said: “Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline. We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system, making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”
The Conservatives, now in opposition, also rejected the proposals as little more than recycled versions of their own policies. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced. Nigel Farage previously claimed mass deportations were impossible, and now he says it’s his policy. Who knows what he’ll say next?”
Reform UK estimated the mass deportation plan would cost around £10 billion over five years but argued that it would ultimately save money by ending the need to house asylum seekers in hotels and other accommodation. The party said the savings would outweigh the costs of detention and removal flights.
Farage claimed deterrence was the central aim: “If people know they will be detained and deported, they will stop coming very quickly.”
The debate comes as Britain faces record numbers of asylum applications. Home Office figures released this week show 111,000 asylum applications were lodged in the 12 months to June — the highest on record.
Despite this surge, overall spending on asylum has fallen by 12 per cent, with the government spending £4.76 billion in the year to March 2025, down from £5.38 billion the previous year. The figures cover accommodation and direct support but exclude the costs of intercepting migrants crossing the Channel.
Small boat arrivals rose by 38 per cent compared with the previous year. More than half of those who made the crossing came from five countries: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Labour government had “inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government left in chaos” but insisted her party had already taken steps to strengthen border controls and “sharply increase enforcement and returns”.
The Conservatives’ own attempt to deter Channel crossings through the Rwanda deportation scheme collapsed after years of legal wrangling. Just four people were sent to Rwanda before Labour scrapped the plan earlier this year.
Reform UK’s proposals, though more sweeping, are likely to face similar obstacles, particularly if Britain remains within the ECHR framework. Legal experts warn that forced returns to countries such as Afghanistan or Eritrea could breach international law, which forbids deportations to states where individuals may face persecution.
Immigration has once again become one of the sharpest dividing lines in British politics. For Farage, who returned to frontline politics to lead Reform UK, the issue has long been a rallying cry. His latest intervention suggests he intends to keep it at the heart of his campaign to challenge both Labour and the Conservatives.
But with Labour branding the proposals “unrealistic” and Conservatives accusing Reform of policy recycling, the row over how to manage asylum and small boat crossings is set to intensify.
