‘Mass deportations’: Farage copies Australia in plan to stop the boats
By David Crowe
London: Asylum seekers who cross the English Channel would be sent to Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean under extraordinary plans from right-wing politician Nigel Farage to fight the next UK election on a pledge to stop the boat arrivals.
Farage, whose Reform UK party has surged in the opinion polls, dramatically intensified the British debate on migration policy by declaring he would order the construction of mammoth detention centres and begin mass deportations of those seeking asylum.
Mounted police officers scuffle with demonstrators during a protest by anti-migrant Abolish Asylum System and counter protesters at Castle Park in Bristol, England.Credit: AP
In a pledge that echoes the Australian policy to stop boat arrivals under former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, the British politician said a Reform UK government would send asylum seekers home and would use Ascension Island as a “backstop” for those who refused.
“You will not be staying in this country if you pay a trafficker to cross the English Channel,” he told The Times of London, in an exclusive interview to reveal his plans.
Farage, who rose to prominence in the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, has praised Australian migration policies in the past and spoken to Abbott about the asylum seeker that stopped most boat arrivals after the Liberals won power in 2013.
“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” he said.
“Who is our priority? Is it the safety and security of this country and its people, or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to.”
Asked how he would respond if deportees were tortured when they returned home, he said: “Look, 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.”
The Reform UK policy borrows key features from the Australian experience, such as a rule that those who seek asylum after crossing on unauthorised boats will not be settled in the UK.
Asylum seekers would be given £2500 ($5200) to return to their home countries voluntarily, and their flights would be paid for by the UK government.
The plan also includes the construction of detention centres capable of holding 24,000 people within 18 months of the election, copying Australia’s use of immigration detention and breaking with existing UK measures.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took power last year with a substantial majority and is not due to face an election until 2029, but he is yet to show he can slow the asylum-seeker arrivals despite criticising the previous government over the issue.
Official figures released on Thursday showed that 111,084 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year to June, including 43,600 who came by boat.
The total number of asylum applications was below 40,000 in the year to June 2018, then soared after the pandemic, surpassing 100,000 under the Conservatives and reaching a new high under Labour.
Anti-immigration protesters in Bristol on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Australia’s refugee and humanitarian program was set at 20,000 places for 2024-25. Since 2013, people arriving by boat have been returned or taken to a third country for processing, with 94 people held in Nauru as at August 31, 2024.
Starmer has struck an agreement with France to return some asylum seekers, but has continued the contentious policy of using hotels and motels across the community to house asylum seekers – sparking protests in some of those communities.
“I am determined to smash the business model used by people smugglers, and I’m taking joint action with our allies to make it happen,” he said last week.
Farage has only three MPs in his party in the House of Commons but is widely seen as a rising power in British politics because of his standing in the opinion polls, turning his pronouncements into front-page news in the British media.
Nigel Farage is widely seen as a rising power in British politics.Credit: Getty Images
With the next election so far away, Starmer has time to develop new measures that might slow the asylum seeker arrivals.
A YouGov survey of 11,500 voters in May and June found that 23 per cent of voters across the UK favoured Labour and only 18 per cent supported the Conservatives, reflecting their fall after former prime minister Rishi Sunak lost the election last year. YouGov found that 26 per cent supported Reform UK.
Farage suggested Ascension Island as a destination for asylum seekers who refused to be returned home, but he did not estimate how many people it would have to accommodate. The island, near the equator, has a limited water supply and is described as hot and dry. It has British and American air force bases.
“It’s a long way away, and it’s expensive,” Farage told The Times. “But again, it’s symbolism.”
The Reform UK leader said the policy would cost £10 billion over five years, including £2.5 billion to build detention centres.
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