UK's hard-right Reform party says it will mass-deport migrants if it wins power

LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's hard-right Reform UK party, said Tuesday that if he wins the next election he will leave the European Convention on Human Rights and immediately detain and deport anyone who arrives in the country illegally, including children.

Farage laid out his plans following a significant rise in migrants who arrive by boat across the English Channel, and weeks of protests over the government's use of hotels to house asylum-seekers.

“If you come to the U.K. illegally, you will be detained and deported and never, ever allowed to stay, period," Farage told a press conference.

“The mood in the country around this issue is a mix between total despair and rising anger," he added, claiming there is now “a genuine threat to public order" if no action is taken.

He said the issue of “how we deal with children is much more complicated,” but added: “Women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.”

Despite holding just four of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, Farage ‘s party has gained momentum by seizing on public frustration over successive governments’ inability to bring down the number of migrants coming by boat. National polls have suggested that support for Reform equals or surpasses that of the ruling Labour Party and the Conservatives.

The party hopes to displace the Conservatives as the country’s main party on the right by the next national election, due by 2029.

Farage, who has long sought to link problems such as public health care and housing to migrant arrivals, reiterated his stance that the U.K. is being “invaded” by migrants. He said he would introduce policies to mass deport hundreds of thousands of people over the first five years of being in government.

Reform will leave the ECHR and repeal or “disapply” all other rights treaties to bar all asylum claims and ensure migrants who arrive without authorization are deported, he added. It will scale up the capacity of detention facilities and secure deals with countries including Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran to return migrants, Farage said, without offering details.

Asked about the prospect of asylum-seekers being tortured or killed if they were sent back to countries they fled, Farage said: “The alternative is to do nothing ... We cannot be responsible for all the sins that take place around the world."

Almost 29,000 people have crossed the English Channel by boat in 2025, up about 50% from the same period last year. On Monday, 659 migrants arrived in the U.K. by boat.

A much larger number of people — over 111,000 — applied for asylum in the U.K. in the year up to June, official figures show.

Reform's deportation plans echo similar tough migration policies by Germany, which deported dozens of Afghan men to their homeland last month.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ditched the previous Conservative administration’s flagship plan to send migrants who arrived by unauthorized means to Rwanda. Instead, he has pinned hopes on a deal agreed with France last month to send some migrants who cross the English Channel on dinghies and inflatable boats back to France.

U.K. officials have suggested the “one in, one out” plan is a major breakthrough, despite the initial program involving a limited number of people.

The government is also looking to speed up the processing of asylum claims. Officials have housed tens of thousands of migrants awaiting their asylum outcome in hotels at public expense. Tensions over the policy have long simmered, but tipped into protests in recent weeks after a hotel resident was charged with sexual assault after he allegedly approached a 14-year-old girl and tried to kiss her.

The man, 38-year-old Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, attended a court hearing Tuesday. He has denied the charges.

Anti-migrant demonstrations, as well as counterprotests, have flared after local authorities won a temporary injunction last week to shut down the Bell Hotel in Epping, on the outskirts of London.

Reform's plans were dismissed by other political parties as lacking in substance and condemned by rights groups.

“Men, women and children are coming to the U.K. looking for safety. They are fleeing the unimaginable horrors of torture in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran, and they desperately need our protection," said Kolbassia Haoussou at the nonprofit Freedom from Torture.

British Reform party leader Nigel Farage poses in front of a mock departures board during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

British Reform party leader Nigel Farage poses in front of a mock departures board during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

British Reform party leader Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf, left, show the program Operation Restoring Justice during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

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.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Journalists and party members are seen in front of a mock departures board before 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. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

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.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

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.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Torrential rains and flooding have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and authorities warned Friday that more severe weather was expected across several countries in southern Africa.

South Africa has reported at least 19 deaths in two of its northern provinces following heavy rains that began last month and led to severe flooding.

Tourists and staff members were evacuated this week by helicopter from flooded camps to other areas in the renowned Kruger National Park, which is closed to visitors while parts of it are inaccessible because of washed out roads and bridges, South Africa's national parks agency said.

In neighboring Mozambique, the Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction said 103 people had died in an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. Those deaths were from various causes including electrocution from lightning strikes, drowning in floods, infrastructure collapse caused by the severe weather and cholera, the institute said.

The worst flooding in Mozambique has been in the central and southern regions, where more than 200,000 people have been affected, thousands of homes have been damaged, while tens of thousands face evacuation, the World Food Program said.

Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said that 70 people have died and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in heavy rains since the beginning of the year, while infrastructure including schools, roads and bridges collapsed.

Flooding has also hit the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa as well as Malawi and Zambia. Authorities in Madagascar said 11 people died in floods since late November.

The United States' Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven southern African nations, possibly due to the presence of the La Nina weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rains to parts of southeastern Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-stricken areas in the northern Limpopo province on Thursday and said that region had received around 400 millimeters (more than 15 inches) of rain in less than a week. He said that in one district he visited “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the Earth. Everything is gone ... the roofs, the walls, the fences, everything.”

The flooding occurred in the Limpopo and Mpumalanaga provinces in the north, and the South African Weather Service issued a red-level 10 alert for parts of the country for Friday, warning of more heavy rain and flooding that poses a threat to lives and could cause widespread infrastructure damage.

The huge Kruger wildlife park, which covers some 22,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, has been impacted by severe flooding and around 600 tourists and staff members have been evacuated from camps to high-lying areas in the park, Kruger National Park spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said.

He couldn't immediately say how many people there were in the park, which has been closed to visitors after several rivers burst their banks and flooded camps, restaurants and other areas. The parks agency said precautions were being taken and no deaths or injuries had been reported at Kruger.

The South African army sent helicopters to rescue other people trapped on the roofs of their houses or in trees in northern parts of the country, it said. An army helicopter also rescued border post officers and police officers stranded at a flooded checkpoint on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.

Southern Africa has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent years, including devastating cyclones and a scorching drought that caused a food crisis in parts of a region that often suffers food shortages.

The World Food Program said more than 70,000 hectares (about 173,000 acres) of crops in Mozambique, including staples such as rice and corn, have been waterlogged in the current flooding, worsening food insecurity for thousands of small-scale farmers who rely on their harvests for food.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writers Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, and Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)