Reform pledges to suspend asylum system for up to five years and deport claimants
All asylum applications would be rejected and existing ones voided, with all claimants marked for deportation.
By BBC News
Reform UK has pledged to suspend the UK’s asylum system for a full parliamentary term if it forms the next government.
The party said all new asylum applications would be rejected and existing applications made void. Claimants would be marked for deportation under the proposals.
Reform also plans to scrap the asylum tribunal system, which handles appeals against asylum decisions. It said more than 90,000 outstanding appeals would not be heard and the claimants would instead face deportation.
The party said no new grants of refugee status or humanitarian protection would be made during the suspension.
Reform leader Nigel Farage is expected to present the policy as part of a wider plan to overhaul the UK’s immigration system. The proposals include reviewing asylum decisions made during the previous five years.
Reform said around 400,000 people could be liable for deportation under its plans. That figure would include people granted asylum, visa overstayers and people from countries that a Reform government considered safe.
The party has previously said it would prevent people arriving in the UK by small boat from remaining in the country. It suggested the policy could lead to 600,000 deportations over five years.
The proposals would require major changes to the current asylum and appeals framework before they could be implemented.