Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform party, has unveiled a radical five-year plan to detain and deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants, pushing the UK's asylum debate further to the right. Dubbed 'Operation Restoring Justice', the proposal includes withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the UN Convention Against Torture, as well as indefinite detention in camps and deportations to countries like Afghanistan and Eritrea, even where individuals risk torture or death.
Speaking at a press conference at London Oxford airport, Farage warned of a 'genuine threat to public order' without action on illegal migration. The plan would also impose a lifetime ban on re-entry for deported individuals and criminalise re-entry after deportation, with sentences of up to five years in prison. However, journalists were given only a four-page document with little detail, and Farage failed to answer basic questions, such as which military bases would be used for detention camps.
The Guardian political correspondent Aletha Adu, who attended the event, described it as 'chaos' but noted that Farage's rhetoric is forcing mainstream parties to react. 'He is able to force the biggest party to react to his framing,' she said. The proposal has raised concerns about a potential two-tier system of human rights, echoing a historical pattern where far-right rhetoric creeps into the mainstream and hardens into government policy.
The development comes as the UK experiences its warmest summer on record, with four heatwaves, and as Donald Trump imposes 50% tariffs on US imports from India. Meanwhile, the UN has demanded accountability for unlawful killings in Gaza, and a fake Irish aristocrat is set to go on trial in France for allegedly cheating actor Dany Boon out of millions of euros.
