Reform UK unveils plan to immediately deport 90,000 asylum seekers — The Guardian

In the United Kingdom, the Reform UK party has unveiled a plan for the immediate deportation of 90,000 asylum seekers, with no exceptions for mothers and children. The party also proposes introducing a five-year ban on granting asylum to new applicants, The Guardian reports.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said at a press conference in Kent that allowing Palestinian or Afghan women and children to enter could pave the way for family reunification and the arrival of their husbands and partners. Under the party's plan, new asylum applications would be automatically rejected, while unsuccessful applicants would be returned to their countries or to safe third countries.

Checks and deportations

Reform UK proposes using tariffs, visa bans or airspace restrictions against countries that refuse to take back asylum seekers. The party also intends to review the status of all people who have been granted asylum since 2024. Those who arrived from countries that a future Reform UK home secretary considers safe would lose their permission to reside in the United Kingdom.

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In a 17-page document, the party proposes integrating immigration controls into the work of state institutions and public procedures. Migration status checks could be carried out during food safety, housing and licensing inspections. Water and electricity consumption data, aerial photography and neighbours' complaints are proposed for identifying people who are to be deported.

Exception for Ukrainians and reaction

Reform UK plans to abolish all legal resettlement programmes except for routes for Ukrainians created after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The party's home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said that Reform UK wants to deport more than one million people, while providing third-country options for individual cases.

The Refugee Council charity criticised the proposals, stating that closing the British asylum system would cause chaos and that people who still arrived in the country would go into hiding instead of going through an orderly procedure. Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson called Reform UK's policies increasingly radical and said migration could be controlled without completely abandoning the asylum system.