Ex-Brexit campaigner says he would sign deals with Afghanistan and others countries to repatriate illegal migrants
\n London
\nFormer Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage set out plans on Saturday for \u201cmass deportations\u201d of migrants who have crossed the English Channel on small boats if his Reform UK party forms Britain\u2019s next government.
\nIn an interview with Saturday\u2019s edition of The Times newspaper, Farage said he would withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights and sign deals with Afghanistan, Eritrea and other top countries of origin to repatriate illegal migrants.
\n\u201cWe 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,\u201d Farage said.
\nAsked if he was concerned that asylum seekers would be killed or tortured if they were sent to countries with poor human rights records, Farage said he was more worried about the threat he believed asylum seekers posed to Britons.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets,\u201d he said.
\nBritain has seen regular small-scale protests in recent weeks outside hotels housing asylum seekers, spurred in part by concerns about public safety after some migrants were charged with sexual assault.
\nBroader opinion polls show that immigration and asylum are the public\u2019s greatest concern, just ahead of the economy, and Reform UK \u2014 which won five seats at last year\u2019s general election \u2014 has topped recent voting intention polls.
\nLast year 37,000 people \u2014 mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Vietnam and Eritrea\u2013arrived in Britain from France by crossing the English Channel in small boats.<\/p>\n
The total was up by a quarter from 2023 and accounted for 9% of net migration.
\nAbout two-thirds of people who arrive via small boats and claim asylum are successful and only 3% have been deported, according to figures analysed by the University of Oxford.
\nFarage told The Times he would end the right to claim asylum or to challenge deportation for those who arrived by small boats by replacing existing human rights legislation and opting Britain out of refugee treaties, citing a national emergency.
\n\u201cThe aim of this legislation is mass deportations,\u201d Farage said, adding that a \u201cmassive crisis\u201d caused by asylum seekers was fuelling public anger.
\nThe Times said Farage wanted to create holding facilities for 24,000 migrants on air bases at a cost of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) and operate five deportation flights a day with total deportations reaching the hundreds of thousands.
\nIf that failed, asylum seekers could be held on Ascension Island, a British territory in the South Atlantic, to send a symbolic message, Farage said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ex-Brexit campaigner says he would sign deals with Afghanistan and others countries to repatriate illegal migrants London Former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage set out plans on Saturday for \u201cmass deportations\u201d of migrants who have crossed the English Channel on small boats if his Reform UK party forms Britain\u2019s next government. In an interview with Saturday\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-498691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n