UK 'ready' to deport 100 migrants 'within weeks' to tackle small-boats crisis

More than 100 asylum seekers have been detained for deportation to France, as the Prime Minister attempts to crack down on migration, The Times understands.

The government's efforts will also include deterring signs in asylum seeker camps in France, warning “Get on a small boat and you will be deported".

Six boats reportedly launched from France on Monday and 212 asylum seekers made the crossing on Sunday.

A government source told the newspaper: “Detentions of those arriving from France have been taking place over the last 24 hours, so these small-boat migrants may end up finding themselves being bussed to a detention centre before the day is out.”

The 100 migrants will be held in immigration detention centres pending their deportation to France under the new scheme.

Those with legitimate asylum claims will be allowed to come to the UK.

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pledged to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), scrap the Human Rights Act, and disapply other international agreements he described as "roadblocks" to deporting people who arrive in the UK illegally.

It comes after Farage suggested replacing the Human Rights Act with a bill that only covers British citizens in what he called the ‘opposite’ of human rights.

Setting out his proposals in the Telegraph, he described international treaties governing human rights law as "malign influences" which had been "allowed to frustrate deportations".

He added: "The planes will take off, and plenty of them at that.

"The time has come to put this country first. This is all a question of priorities. Is Keir Starmer on the side of the British people, national security and protecting women and girls - or is he on the side of outdated international treaties and human rights lawyers?"

Farage’s party has sought to gain from public dissatisfaction with how both Labour and the Tories have handled the migrant crisis, and he will set out his plans to grasp it on Tuesday.

Farage and his senior Reform UK ally Zia Yusuf had earlier claimed the party would replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights.

Speaking to the Times, Farage said his bill would ensure people have the “freedom to do everything, unless there’s a law that says you can’t”.

He said his plans constitute “the opposite” of the “concept of human rights, which are state given”.

Former Reform chairman and current head of its Elon Musk-styled Department of Government Efficiency Zia Yusuf said the bill would apply to British citizens and those who have a legal right to live in the UK, while enabling arrests, detention and deportation of illegal migrants.

The Bill would refer to individual liberties like protection of liberty and free speech, the newspaper reported, rather than human rights.

Under Reform's plans, those who come to the UK on small boats and other unauthorised routes would have no right to claim asylum in the UK.

The party is to suggest housing them in detention facilities at old military bases.

Reform would also seek to strike return deals with the largest countries of origin for asylum seekers, as well as discussing third country deportation arrangements with nations like Rwanda and Albania.

A "fallback" option could also include deporting people to British overseas territories.

Sir Keir is meanwhile facing mounting pressure over his plans to tackle the small boats crisis.

A record 28,288 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year so far, after 212 people did so on Sunday in four boats, making the total 46% more than by the same date in 2024.

A YouGov poll for The Times meanwhile found that 71% of voters believe the Prime Minister is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56% of Labour supporters.

Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle told the Guardian both Reform and the Tories offered nothing more than "fantasy solutions" to the crisis.

"These are back-of-the-fag-packet plans without the substance on delivery," she said ahead of Mr Farage's announcement on Tuesday.

A Government source meanwhile told the paper that "by the end of the year at least five more hotels are expected to be closed, with a big surge in closures in the new year".

Anti-migration protests at sites housing asylum seekers, several of which attended by leaders and members of far-right groups, continued over the weekend and the Government is braced for further legal fights over the use of hotels.