Reform UK in talks with El Salvador over sending foreign prisoners to Bukele's jails

Reform UK, spearheaded by Nigel Farage, is engaged in discussions with the government of El Salvador regarding the potential transfer of foreign prisoners to Salvadoran jails. This proposal, as reported by The Sun on Monday, remains unverified by the Salvadoran authorities. Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf outlined the party's stance on prisons, vowing to deport all non-citizens from UK jails.

If their home nations refuse to accept them, Yusuf suggests sending them to countries like El Salvador and Kosovo to serve their sentences. Currently, over 10,000 foreign nationals reside in British prisons, according to Yusuf, a figure he believes would free up space for dangerous offenders. A Lee Anderson-led delegation is set to visit Central America soon to gauge the practicality of this plan, which would entail renting prison spaces funded by the UK, creating 12,000 temporary prison slots, and discontinuing early release for serious offenders.

This move comes in the shadow of Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham's early release program, set to begin in October, which faces criticism for potentially affecting 5,000 inmates. The Reform UK's proposal echoes a similar arrangement struck by Donald Trump's administration with El Salvador in March 2025, where 238 Venezuelans were deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) designed to hold 40,000 inmates.

Despite human rights organizations documenting arbitrary detentions and deaths under El Salvador's state of exception, President Nayib Bukele has announced plans to double CECOT's capacity.