Thousands of Afghans were quietly relocated to the UK under a secretive government scheme following a major data breach in 2022, it has been revealed. The breach, caused by a British Ministry of Defence (MoD) official mistakenly emailing a spreadsheet containing sensitive personal information, exposed the identities of nearly 19,000 Afghan nationals who had applied to resettle in the UK after the Taliban’s return to power.
The incident remained hidden from the public for nearly two years. Although the previous government discovered the breach in August 2023 after some of the data surfaced on Facebook its existence and the resulting relocations were suppressed by a rare super-injunction. The gag order, lifted this week by High Court Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain, had even barred media from acknowledging the injunction itself.
The judge criticized the measure, stating it had created a “scrutiny vacuum” and severely hampered democratic accountability. He noted it was “quite possible” that Taliban members had accessed the leaked data, which included names, contact details, and family information putting those listed at risk of harm.
In response to the breach, the government launched the Afghan Relocation Route, a secret initiative that has brought over 4,500 individuals to the UK. The scheme has cost £400 million so far and is projected to cost up to £450 million more before being wound down.
Defence Secretary John Healey issued a formal apology, admitting the breach resulted from a spreadsheet being emailed outside of authorised systems a serious departmental error. He confirmed that affected individuals were only informed on Tuesday and advised to take precautionary cybersecurity measures.
The MoD acknowledged that 600 Afghan soldiers and 1,800 of their family members listed in the breach remain in Afghanistan. Although offers for relocation will still be honoured, the scheme is closing.
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace reportedly applied for the injunction to protect those exposed by the leak. Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge described the incident as an “unacceptable breach” of protocol, while legal representatives of Afghan applicants labelled it a “catastrophic failure.”
The incident follows broader criticism of the UK’s 2021 Afghan evacuation, previously described by MPs as a “disaster” and “betrayal.”