London: Britain set up a secret scheme to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK after their personal details were disclosed in a data leak, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power, court documents showed.
Concerns that individuals named could be targeted by the Taliban led the previous Conservative government to set up the relocation scheme, involving thousands of people and estimated to cost the government about £2 billion ($4.1 billion).
British troops in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2020.Credit: AP
The leak by the Ministry of Defence in early 2022, which saw data published on Facebook the following year, and the secret relocation program were subject to a so-called super-injunction preventing the media reporting what happened, which was lifted on Tuesday, London time.
British Defence Minister John Healey on Tuesday apologised for the leak, which included details about members of parliament and senior military officers who supported applications to help soldiers who worked with the British military and their families relocate to the UK from Afghanistan.
“This serious data incident should never have happened,” Healey told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
“It may have occurred three years ago under the previous government, but to all whose data was compromised I offer a sincere apology.”
British Defence Minister John Healey apologised to those affected by the data breach.Credit: Bloomberg
The incident ranks among the worst security breaches in modern British history because of the cost and risk posed to the lives of thousands of Afghans, some of whom fought alongside British forces until their chaotic withdrawal in 2021.
Healey said about 4500 Afghans and their family members have been relocated or were on their way to Britain under the previously secret scheme at a cost of about £400 million.