Taliban 'ready and willing' to join forces with Nigel Farage for deportation scheme
Taliban 'ready and willing' to join forces with Nigel Farage for deportation scheme
The Taliban is reportedly "ready and willing" to work with Nigel Farage and accept Afghans deported from Britain under Reform UK's unprecedented new mass deportation plan.
Reform leader Farage announced on Tuesday new plans to deport a staggering 600,000 illegal migrants within five years of a Reform government, which would mean deporting 300 people a day.
Farage said his government would negotiate returns agreements with countries including Iran, Eritrea and Afghanistan, which is governed by the Taliban.
The Taliban, a militant group that first took power in Afghanistan in the 1990s, was accused by the United States of harbouring fighters belonging to al-Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks.
In late 2001, the US and its close allies invaded Afghanistan, which has remained in a state of turmoil and instability ever since.
More than 70,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians are estimated to have died as a direct result of the war and tens of thousands more have fled the countries.
In 2021, the Taliban won power and the US withdrew from Afghanistan.
Reform's Zia Yusuf said on Wednesday it would be "quite reasonable" to pay the Taliban to take deported illegal migrants.
The Telegraph reported that a senior Taliban official based in Kabul said: "We are ready and willing to receive and embrace whoever he [Farage] sends us.
"We are prepared to work with anyone who can help end the struggles of Afghan refugees, as we know many of them do not have a good life abroad."
The official reportedly said: "We will not take money to accept our own people, but we welcome aid to support newcomers, since there are challenges in accommodating and feeding those returning from Iran and Pakistan.
"Afghanistan is home to all Afghans, and the Islamic Emirate is determined to make this country a place where everyone – those already here, those returning, or those being sent back from the West by Mr Farage or anyone else – can live with dignity."
Taliban says Reform 'maybe easier to deal with'
Responding to the official's comments, Yusuf said: "Reform continues to show the way. If only this awful [Labour] government would step aside."
The Taliban official also reportedly suggested Farage may be easier to work with than the Labour government.
"We will have to see what Mr Farage does when or if he becomes prime minister of Britain, but since his views are different, it may be easier to deal with him than with the current ones," he said.
"We will accept anyone he sends, whether they are legal or illegal refugees in Britain."
Significantly, after Farage's announcement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson indicated the Labour government would not rule out a returns agreement with Afghanistan, saying: "We’re not going to take anything off the table."
'We will accept anyone he sends, whether they are legal or illegal refugees in Britain'
- Unnamed senior Taliban official
But in a speech on Wednesday Nick Thomas-Symonds, the EU relations minister, dismissed Reform's proposal as "outlandish" and accused him of "dividing communities and stoking anger".
The Conservative party's chair, Kevin Hollinrake, told Times Radio his party would "potentially" be willing to strike a deal with the Taliban to return migrants.
Meanwhile former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - an independent MP and key figure in the founding of a new unnamed left-wing party - said: "I am sickened by the relentless demonisation of refugees.
"No refugee underfunded a school. No refugee closed a hospital. No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled.
"We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!"
Nine Afghans have been deported to Afghanistan from Britain since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
The Home Office said at the time that "no one found to be at legitimate risk of persecution or serious harm will be expected to return to their country of origin".
Reform takes a different approach. Its new deportation plan would pass a new law barring anyone from claiming asylum, and mandating that the government deports migrants who arrived illegally.
Asked about the risk deported Afghans being killed or tortured on Tuesday, Farage said: "It bothers me, but what really bothers me is what is happening on the streets of our country. What really bothers me is what is happening to British citizens."
On Tuesday evening, Reform board member Gawain Towler said: "We are responsible for the people of this country.
"How does somebody who's served our country and is living on the streets feel about the hostels and the hotels being provided for people who arrived here on the boats?
"Those are the people I care about. I'm sorry, I don't care about the whole world."
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