--- title: "Humanists UK condemns Reform plan to suspend asylum" date: "2026-10-12T15:29:18+01:00" modified: "2026-10-12T16:06:26+01:00" url: "https://humanists.uk/2026/10/12/humanists-uk-condemns-reform-plan-to-suspend-asylum/" post_id: 199846 categories: ["News"] --- # Humanists UK condemns Reform plan to suspend asylum ![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/54413376593_220aa1b768_k.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1)Nigel Farage MP (Clacton, Reform UK) ©House of CommonsReform UK has [pledged to suspend the UK’s asylum system](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwnv0zmjld51o) for five years if it wins the next general election. Under the plans, announced today by party leader Nigel Farage, all asylum applications in progress would be declared void. Asylum tribunals, safe and legal routes, and resettlement schemes would be scrapped. Around 90,000 people with outstanding appeals would be deported without their cases being heard. Humanists UK has condemned the proposal, warning that it would abandon the UK’s long tradition of protecting people fleeing persecution. The announcement follows Reform UK’s pledge in August 2025 to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act, and disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention. Humanists UK [condemned those plans at the time](https://humanists.uk/2025/08/26/withdrawal-from-human-rights-convention-would-be-dangerous-and-divisive/), warning that they would put the rights of everyone in the UK at risk. It also [raised the alarm](https://humanists.uk/2025/10/08/humanists-alarmed-by-further-attacks-on-the-european-convention-on-human-rights/) over the Conservative Party’s commitment to withdraw from the ECHR, and recently [challenged misleading rhetoric about its role in immigration and asylum cases](https://humanists.uk/2026/10/06/humanists-uk-at-un-challenging-misconceptions-about-the-european-court-of-human-rights/), amid the Labour Government’s proposals to limit the application of Article 8 – the right to respect for private and family life – in immigration and deportation decisions. The UK has a long history of offering sanctuary. In 1938 and 1939, the Kindertransport brought around 10,000 children, most of them Jewish, to safety in Britain from Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled. After the Second World War, British lawyers played a leading role in drafting the ECHR, and in 1951 the UK became the first country to ratify it. The UK was also among the first signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which established that no one should be returned to a country where they face persecution. Non-religious people face [widespread discrimination and persecution around the world](https://fot.humanists.international/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Freedom-of-Thought-Report-2025.pdf). In some countries, leaving religion or criticising it can be punished by death. #### **Humanists UK Policy and Campaigns Manager Laura Newlyn said:** > ‘In 1938, this country opened its doors to thousands of children fleeing the Nazis. After the war, we helped write the rules that say no one should be sent back to persecution, torture, or death. Suspending asylum for five years would tear up that legacy. It would risk sending people back to the dangers they fled, including people persecuted simply for what they believe, without even hearing their case. That is cruel, and sets a dangerous precedent: that some people are “less than” because of their immigration status.’ > > ‘Human rights are the minimum standards we all need to be able to live with dignity. They belong to everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from. Once we accept that some people can be denied those rights, we undermine the protections that every one of us depends on.’ #### Notes For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at or phone 0203 675 0959 (media only). Read more about our work on [human rights and access to justice](https://humanists.uk/campaigns/policy-unit/human-rights-and-access-to-justice/). Read more about our [campaign for human rights and equality](https://humanists.uk/campaigns-old/human-rights-and-equality/) Read how we challenge [misconceptions about the ECHR](https://humanists.uk/2026/10/06/humanists-uk-at-un-challenging-misconceptions-about-the-european-court-of-human-rights/) Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.