A senior member of the UK’s Reform Party has announced that if the party wins the next election, it will allocate £2 billion to deport undocumented migrants, including payments to the Taliban for accepting deportees from Afghanistan.
Zia Yusuf, a key Reform Party official, told the BBC that Britain’s migration crisis requires “bold and unapologetic” solutions. He confirmed that a significant portion of the proposed £2 billion budget would go toward striking deals with governments, including the Taliban, to accept migrants who entered the UK illegally.
When asked directly whether the party would “pay the Taliban,” Yusuf replied: “I think that’s entirely reasonable. The British public is exhausted from the constant abuse of their goodwill.”
He noted that Afghan and Eritrean nationals make up a large share of those crossing the Channel in small boats and cited the recent deportation of 81 people from Germany to Afghanistan, describing them as undocumented migrants who had committed crimes.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s interior minister, recently said other European countries are also exploring options to deport Afghanistan’s nationals.
Yusuf insisted that “the human rights of the British people come first,” referring to mothers in towns like Epping who, according to him, fear for their daughters’ safety due to migration-related concerns.
In 2024 alone, over 37,000 people—mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Vietnam, and Eritrea—arrived in the UK via the English Channel in small boats.
Nigel Farage, Reform Party leader, is expected to unveil the full deportation platform today, Tuesday (August 26). He has previously stated that, if elected, his government would pursue formal agreements with countries including Afghanistan to facilitate returns.
Farage also revealed plans to construct a large-scale detention center on military grounds with a capacity for 24,000 people, which would be operational within 18 months of taking office.
