Thousands of Afghans moved secretly to Britain after data leakage

• Thousands of Afghans were transferred to the UK after a leak.
• The minister apologizes for the “serious incident”.
• The UK government is facing lawsuits from the affected.
  

Britain has created a secret plan to bring thousands of Afghans to the United Kingdom, as their personal information was revealed in one of the worst data violations in the country, endangering them a retaliation by the Taliban after returning to power.

Concerns that people could target the Taliban have led the previous Conservative government to create the relocation system, with the participation of thousands of people and is estimated to cost the government about £ 2 billion ($ 2.7 billion).

The leak by the Ministry of Defense in early 2022, which led to data published on Facebook next year and the secret relocation program, underwent a so -called superiority that prevents the media from reporting what happened, which refused on Tuesday by court.

British Defense Minister John Healey apologized for the leak, which included details of the members of parliament and senior military officers who supported applications to help Afghan soldiers who worked with the British army and their families.

“This serious incident should never happen,” Healey told legislators in the House of Commons. “It may have happened three years ago as part of the previous government, but in all the data whose data was violated I offer a sincere apology.”

The incident is ranked among the worst security violations in modern British history due to the costs and dangers they posed on the lives of thousands of Afghans, some of whom fought alongside the British forces until their chaotic retirement in 2021.

Healey said that about 4,500 Afghans and their family members were transferred or were on the way to Britain as part of the previous secret program.

But he added that no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum due to data leakage, citing a government review, which found little about the intention of the Taliban to pursue punishment against former officials.

The revision, a summary of which was also published on Tuesday, said that more than 16,000 people affected by it had been transferred to the United Kingdom since May this year, although some of them had been transferred to the United Kingdom with existing programs.

The news of the leak is coming as Britain’s public finances are tight and the right -wing political party against UK immigration leads to polls.

Lifted the superinjunction

The government faces lawsuits from those affected by the violation, further adding the final cost of the incident.

Sean Humber, a lawyer on Leigh Day, who has acted for Afghan citizens affected by previous data violations, said the offended were “likely to have strong claims for substantial compensation” for the stress and discomfort caused by the leak.

The British forces were first developed in Afghanistan in 2001 after the September 11 attacks in the United States and played an important role in combat operations there until 2014.

At the beginning of 2022, a computing sheet containing details of the Afghans worked on the British government before the Taliban acquisition in 2021 and had applied for relocation to Britain was sent by email to someone outside of government systems by mistake.

Superinjunction was first granted in 2023, after the Ministry of Defense, under the former Conservative Government, claimed that public disclosure of the violation could put people at risk of out -of -court murder or severe violence by the Taliban.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s central left government, elected last July, launched a review of the order, violation and relocation system.