UK Relocates Thousands of Afghans After Data Breach

The British government has revealed that a data breach by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2022 exposed the personal information of nearly 20,000 Afghans who had worked with UK forces, putting them and their families at risk of violence. The breach occurred when an email containing the list was mishandled. Initially, the government tried to keep the incident secret with a superinjunction, but it was eventually lifted. As a result of the breach, around 6,900 Afghans, including those named on the list and their dependents, are being relocated to the UK under a secret scheme, in addition to thousands more under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The total cost to the taxpayer is expected to be at least £6 billion, with the MoD estimating the relocation costs directly linked to the breach to be around £850 million. The Defence Secretary has apologized for the breach, stating that the lack of transparency was a concern. Some affected individuals are pursuing legal action against the UK government.

The UK government set up a secret relocation scheme for Afghans after a major data breach in which the personal details of nearly 19,000 people who had applied to move to the UK were leaked. The breach occurred in February 2022, but was only discovered by the government in August 2023. A new resettlement scheme, officially called the Afghan Relocation Route, was established nine months later and has seen 4,500 Afghans arrive in the UK so far. The scheme was kept secret after the government obtained a super-injunction, but a High Court judge lifted the order, revealing the breach and the relocations. The leak contained names, contact details, and some family information of people potentially at risk from the Taliban. The government has apologized for the breach, stating it was a "serious departmental error" caused by an official emailing a spreadsheet outside authorized government systems. The scheme has cost £400m so far and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m.

Defence Secretary John Healey has expressed discomfort with the government's use of a super-injunction to keep a massive data breach involving nearly 20,000 Afghan nationals who worked with UK forces hidden. The breach, which occurred three-and-a-half years ago, led to the relocation of almost 7,000 Afghan nationals to the UK. Healey defended the initial decision to keep the leak secret, stating that lives were at stake, but an independent review found it "highly unlikely" that being on the leaked list increases the risk of being targeted, allowing the breach to be revealed.