Nigel Farage unveils immigration plan to crackdown on asylum seekers
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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has laid out a controversial immigration strategy centered on the mass deportation of asylum seekers.
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Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage, photo undated (AFP via Getty Images)
Nigel Farage, the former Brexit campaigner and current leader of Reform UK, announced on August 22, plans for the mass deportation of asylum seekers if his party forms Britain's next government.
In an interview for The Times, Farage detailed an aggressive approach that includes withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and forging repatriation agreements with countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.
"We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries ... I mean [US President Donald] Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively," Farage told the UK-based paper.
He emphasized his intention to end the right to claim asylum for those arriving via small boats, by replacing existing human rights laws and opting the UK out of refugee conventions. He described the situation as a "national emergency" and insisted such steps were necessary to regain control over immigration.
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When asked about the risks asylum seekers might face if returned to countries with poor human rights records, Farage said his priority was the safety of British citizens. "I can't be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets," he said.
Public reaction and political context
The UK has witnessed small-scale protests in recent weeks outside hotels housing asylum seekers, fueled by public concerns following reports of migrants being charged with sexual assault. Broader opinion polls suggest immigration and asylum now rank as the public’s top concerns, narrowly ahead of the economy.
Reform UK, which secured five parliamentary seats in last year’s general election, has recently gained traction in voting intention polls, reflecting growing dissatisfaction with existing immigration policies.
In figures cited by Reuters, approximately 37,000 people, primarily from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Vietnam, and Eritrea, crossed the English Channel from France in small boats in 2024. The number represented a 25% increase from 2023 and accounted for 9% of net migration to Britain.
Despite the rise, only 3% of those arriving by small boats have been deported, according to figures from the University of Oxford. Two-thirds of asylum applications from such arrivals are successful.
Proposed detention and deportation facilities
Farage outlined a plan to establish holding facilities capable of accommodating 24,000 migrants on former airbases, at an estimated cost of £2.5 billion. The operation would include five deportation flights per day, with an ultimate goal of deporting hundreds of thousands.
Should domestic deportation logistics fail, Farage suggested relocating asylum seekers to Ascension Island, a British territory in the South Atlantic, as a symbolic measure to deter illegal immigration.
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"The aim of this legislation is mass deportations," Farage told The Times, adding, “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."
Farage claims that the only way to prevent people from entering the UK is to "detain them and deport them.”
