Reform UK said it’s prepared to deport 600,000 asylum seekers from Britain to prevent “civil disorder.”
Nigel Farage, the party leader, stated that the strategy involves exiting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), overturning the Human Rights Act, and eliminating international agreements that prevent enforced deportations, as reported by Reuters.
The ECHR, a cornerstone of U.K. human rights law, has repeatedly been used to halt deportations of migrants deemed to be in the country illegally, the BBC reported.
British Reform Party leader Nigel Farage shows the Operation Restoring Justice program during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England. (Joanna Chan/AP)
The announcement followed weeks of small protests over mass migration and crimes committed by some asylum seekers.
Britain received a record 108,100 asylum applications in 2024, many from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Bangladesh.
Polling shows immigration has overtaken the economy as voters’ top concern. Reform UK, despite holding only four seats in Parliament, is leading in surveys of voting intentions, Reuters reported.
British Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses journalists during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Joanna Chan/AP)
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook dismissed the proposals as “a series of gimmicks” that would not work. Reform’s opponents and several charities said the plan would amount to Britain abandoning its human rights commitments.
