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UK Secretly Plans Afghan Resettlement After Major Data Breach
UK to resettle up to 20,000 Afghans after personal data of 33,000 leaked, risking Taliban reprisals. Court reveals secret plan; £400M already spent relocating 4,500 people.
ND
by News Desk
2025-07-15
UK Secretly Plans Afghan Resettlement After Major Data Breach

The United Kingdom has been forced to secretly prepare a massive relocation plan for thousands of Afghans after an accidental data leak by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) exposed the personal details of more than 33,000 individuals, placing them at risk of Taliban reprisals.

Newly unsealed court documents reveal that as many as 20,000 Afghans who worked with British forces in Afghanistan may now need to be relocated to the UK under a covert programme known as the Afghan Response Route — a move that could cost British taxpayers several billion pounds.

The Breach and Fallout

The breach, which occurred in early 2022, involved sensitive data of nearly 19,000 Afghans and their families who had applied for relocation to the UK. The breach went undetected until August 2023, when parts of the dataset surfaced on Facebook, prompting the MoD to seek a superinjunction to suppress public knowledge of the incident. The High Court lifted that injunction only recently, allowing details to be published.

Many of the affected Afghans had served as interpreters, security personnel, and local allies for British troops during their deployment under the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, these individuals were left highly vulnerable.

Government Response and Legal Trouble

Current Defence Minister John Healey addressed Parliament, confirming that 4,500 of the exposed individuals are already in the UK or in transit, at a cost of approximately £400 million ($540 million). A MoD-commissioned review, published Tuesday, reported that over 16,000 people impacted by the breach had been relocated as of May 2024.

Healey formally apologized for the incident, calling it a serious failure:

“This breach should never have happened. We regret the distress it has caused and are working to ensure those affected are safe.”

The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, but legal action against the government is ongoing. Several lawsuits have been filed by those whose data was leaked, citing negligence and endangerment.

Lingering Questions and Ongoing Resettlement

While a new centre-left government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a review of the incident and related policies, the assessment found that although Afghanistan remains dangerous, there was “limited evidence” of an organized Taliban campaign of revenge against those on the leaked list.

Still, the situation remains volatile. More than 36,000 Afghans have been relocated to the UK under other schemes since the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

At the height of the war in Afghanistan, nearly 10,000 British troops were stationed in the country as part of NATO’s coalition force. The withdrawal, and subsequent chaotic evacuation, has left many local allies stranded or in hiding.

A Human and Diplomatic Crisis

The revelation has sparked a fresh debate in the UK about data security, moral obligations to wartime allies, and transparency in national security matters. Critics argue that the former Conservative-led government kept the incident hidden to avoid political backlash, while others emphasize the need for urgent reforms in how the government handles sensitive information.

 
Tagged:

AfghanDataLeak

UKAfghanResettlement

TalibanRisk

BritishForces
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