Farage calls for mass deportations in bid to curb small boat crossings

Shiva K Dhakal
www.uknepalpress.com
National Press Corporation (NPC), United Kingdom

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has unveiled plans for large-scale deportations of asylum seekers arriving in small boats, arguing that Britain faces a “massive crisis” that threatens national security and risks sparking public disorder.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Farage said his party would seek to withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), block small boat arrivals from claiming asylum, and use disused RAF bases as detention centres before deporting people to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea, if bilateral agreements could be secured.

“The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,” he told the newspaper. “There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”

Reform UK, which currently has four MPs, has been gaining ground in opinion polls, driven by public frustration over rising migration numbers. Home Office data shows a 38% rise in small boat arrivals over the past year, with more than half of those from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Despite record asylum applications — 111,000 in the year to June — government figures show spending on the asylum system fell by 12% to £4.76bn in the year to March 2025, down from £5.38bn the previous year.

Labour dismissed Mr Farage’s proposals as unrealistic. Border security minister Angela Eagle 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 also criticised the plans, accusing Reform UK of reusing their own policies. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp 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.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had “inherited a broken immigration and asylum system” from the previous government, adding that enforcement and returns had already been “sharply increased.”

Despite the likelihood of legal challenges, Mr Farage insisted only radical measures would deter crossings. “If people know they will be detained and deported, they will stop coming very quickly,” he said.