SAEDNEWS: Britain has set up a secret plan to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK following a major data breach that exposed their personal information, putting them at risk of retaliation by the Taliban.
In February 2022, the personal details of nearly 19,000 people who had applied to move to the UK after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan were leaked by the British Ministry of Defense (MoD).
It was reportedly released in error, before the ministry spotted the breach in August 2023, when part of the dataset was published on Facebook.
Concerns that individuals could be targeted by the Taliban prompted the previous government to set up the relocation plan, involving thousands of people and estimated to cost the government about £2 billion ($2.7 billion).
The leak included details about members of parliament and senior military officers who supported applications to help Afghan soldiers who worked with the British military and their families relocate to the UK.
"This serious data incident should never have happened," John Healey, Britain's defense minister, told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
This is considered one of the most severe security failures in recent UK history, both in terms of financial impact and the grave danger it exposed thousands of Afghans to – including many who had served alongside British troops before their chaotic withdrawal in 2021.
Healey said about 4,500 Afghans and their family members have been relocated or were on their way to Britain under the previously secret plan.
But he added that no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum because of the data leak, citing a government review which claimed there was little evidence of intent from the Taliban to seek retribution against former officials.
MoD figures published on Tuesday show that across several Afghan resettlement schemes, the numbers of those who have already come to the UK and those who have not yet travelled total 56,100 people, including family members.
The leak has emerged at a time when Britain's public finances are strained, and the anti-immigration Reform UK party, which leans to the right, is ahead in the polls.
Meanwhile, the government is being sued by individuals impacted by the data breach, which could significantly increase the total cost of the incident.
The estimated total cost of all resettlement schemes is now £5.5 billion-£6 billion, according to British daily The Guardian.
Afghan man says feels betrayed after UK data leak
In an anonymous interview with Sky News, an Afghan who worked for the British military for 10 years said the massive data leak left him feeling betrayed.
Now, he regrets working alongside those troops, who were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001.
"We work for them, for [the] British, we help them. So now we are left behind, right now. And from today, I don't know about my future."
He described receiving an email warning him that his details had been revealed.
"I've got two kids. All my family are... in danger. Right now... I'm just completely lost."
The UK initially deployed military forces to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
In early 2022, a confidential spreadsheet with personal information of Afghans who had assisted the British government before the 2021 Taliban takeover—and had sought UK relocation—was accidentally emailed to an unauthorized recipient outside government channels.
A superinjunction had concealed the breach since August 2023, barring media from reporting on it. This unprecedented government-requested ban, the longest in UK history, was lifted by the High Court on Tuesday, allowing the leak's details to finally emerge.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's center-left government, which was elected last July, has launched a review into the injunction, the breach and the relocation plan.
