In February 2022, personal details of nearly 19,000 people who applied to move to the UK after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan were leaked by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD).
It was reportedly released incorrectly before the violation was discovered in August 2023, when the ministry published a portion of the dataset on Facebook.
Concerns that individuals could be targeted by the Taliban have prompted the previous government to establish a relocation plan involving thousands of people, estimated it would cost the government around £2 billion ($2.7 billion).
The leak included details about parliamentary members and senior military officers who supported the application to help Afghan soldiers who worked with the British Army and their families relocate to the UK.
“This serious data incident should never have happened,” British defense minister John Healy told House lawmakers.
This is considered one of the most serious security failures in recent British history, both in terms of the serious dangers exposed to thousands of Afghans, including many who served with the British forces before their chaotic withdrawal in 2021.
Healy said about 4,500 Afghans and their families had been relocated or headed for the UK under previous secret schemes.
However, he added that no one else from Afghanistan will be offered asylum due to data leaks. The government review argued that there was little evidence of intent to seek retaliation from the Taliban against former officials.
The figures for the mod, released on Tuesday, show the number of people who have already come to the UK across several Afghan resettlement schemes, as well as the number of people who have not yet travelled a total of 56,100, including families.
The leaks emerge during a period of tension in the UK’s finances, with the anti-immigrant reform British party leaning to the right leading in polls.
Meanwhile, the government is being sued by individuals affected by data breaches, which could significantly increase the total cost of the case.
According to the Guardian’s British Daily, the estimated total costs for all resettlement schemes are currently between £5.5 billion and £6 billion.
Afghanistan man says he feels betrayed after UK data leaked
In an anonymous interview with Sky News, the Afghanistan, who had worked for the British Army for 10 years, said he felt that a massive data leak had betrayed him.
Now he regrets working with the first army deployed in Afghanistan in 2001.
“We work for them. For the British, we help them. So now, we are left behind. And from today, I don’t know about my future.”
He explained that he received an email warning him that his details had been revealed.
“I have two children. My whole family is… in danger. Right now… I’m totally lost.”
The UK first deployed its troops to Afghanistan after the attack in the US on 11 September 2001.
In early 2022, a confidential spreadsheet containing personal information about Afghans who supported the UK government and had been seeking to move the UK prior to the 2021 Taliban acquisition was incorrectly emailed to fraudulent recipients outside of government channels.
Since August 2023, the overlap has concealed the violation and banned the media from reporting it. This unprecedented government-required ban, the longest in British history, was lifted by the High Court on Tuesday, with details of the leak finally coming out.
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer Centre, who was elected last July, has begun reviewing injunctions, violations and relocation plans.
RHM/Press TV