Reform UK's Taliban deportation plan already in action by major EU country

Nigel Farage's pledge to strike return agreements with countries such as Afghanistan to allow migrants to be deported has caused outrage amongst some MPs. Earlier today, Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin wrote to Home secretary Yvette Cooper asking her to investigate whether sending funds to the Taliban in exchange for accepting returns, would break the law under terrorism legislation.

The Reform UK leader has vowed to rip up treaties including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to ensure that his party would be able to remove those who enter the country illegally, should they win power at the next election. Currently, the Taliban is not recognised by the UK as Afghanistan's legitimate government but other countries have negotiated deals to allow them to return failed asylum seekers to the country. Germany has transported 81 failed asylum seekers to Afghanistan on a deportation flight since Friedrich Merz formed a government following an election dominated by immigration.

Merz's government has managed to do so without leaving international treaties such as the ECHR, but has faced significant legal and political challenges to get flights off the ground.

As in Britain, immigration is an issue that has come to dominate German politics, with the country's election this year seeing the far-right party AfD achieve 20% of the vote and carve out substantial support bases in the east of the country.

When taking up the role of Chancellor, Merz vowed to get tough on immigration, with the country significantly tightening border controls, deploying additional border officers, increasing border rejections and denying the majority of asylum claims.

The 81 failed asylum seekers selected for deportation from a pool of 10,000 failed claims were criminals, including sex offenders and violent thugs.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has vowed to continue with his government's tough stance on immigration, telling reporters that "serious criminal offenders have no right to reside in our country."

96 people had originally been scheduled to be onboard the deportation flight but 15 were removed after Qatar, acting as an intermediary, insisted that men with families in Germany should not be removed, according to Diplo News.

The Qataris have also introduced mechanisms to ensure that those returned are not subjected to torture, execution or other inhumane treatment, all the precise means of doing so remain unclear.

The deportation was not without legal challenges, with authorities keeping details of the flight under wraps to avoid challenges and protests by opponents to the measures.