Taliban says 'ready and willing' to work with UK Reform Party's Farage and accept deported Afghans

Taliban says it is "ready and willing" to work with, United Kingdom PM hopeful Nigel Farage. This comes after Farage and his fellow Reform UK politician Zia Yusuf unveiled a plan called "Operation Restoring Justice", under which they pledged the deportation of 600,000 asylum seekers if their party comes to power. Under the plan, they've proposed a £2 billion ($2.68 billion) reserve — of the total £10 billion ($13.4 billion) cost of the programme — to forge return agreements with foreign governments like Afghanistan and Eritrea.

What did Farage's Reform UK propose?

Under the £10 billion "Operation Restoring Justice" the party wants to deport 600,000 asylum seekers. Of this £2 billion ($2.68 billion) would be earmarked for return arrangements with foreign nations like Eritrea and Afghanistan. Yusuf noted that the plan was quite reasonable, given that the UK already pays Afghanistan £151 million (around $202 million) annually in foreign aid. "It's not a drop in the ocean for Afghanistan. It's certainly not a drop in the ocean for Eritrea. These are the two countries that are top of the list for boat crossings." He added that "the notion that Afghans top the list in terms of foreign nationals crossing the Channel illegally, while this country gives £151 million of aid to Afghanistan — we don’t think that’s fair."

What did Taliban say?

Talking to the Telegraph, a Kabul-based senior Taliban official said that the Afghan rulers were ready to work with Farage and accept deported Afghans. However, the group indicated that it would not accept payments directly in return to deal, but that it would accept aid to support the returned migrants.

"We are ready and willing to receive and embrace whoever he [Nigel 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," said the official who chose was not named. The Talibani official insisted that they won't "take money to accept our own people," adding, "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." The official as per the report also suggested that given Farage's "different views" it may be easier to negotiate with him if he became PM.