Secret Afghan relocation scheme arrange after main information breach

Hundreds of Afghans have been moved to the UK beneath a secret scheme which was arrange after a British official inadvertently leaked their information, it may be revealed.

In February 2022, the private particulars of practically 19,000 individuals who had utilized to maneuver to the UK after the Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan had been leaked.

The earlier authorities realized of the breach in August 2023 and created a brand new resettlement scheme 9 months later. It has seen 4,500 Afghans arrive within the UK, with an extra 600 individuals and their quick households nonetheless to reach.

The existence of the leak and relocation scheme had been saved secret for greater than three years after the federal government obtained a superinjunction.

Particulars of the key information breach, the response and the variety of Afghans granted the suitable to stay within the UK consequently had been solely made public on Tuesday after a Excessive Court docket choose dominated the gagging order must be lifted.

The leak contained the names, contact particulars and a few household data of individuals doubtlessly vulnerable to hurt from the Taliban.

The federal government additionally revealed on Tuesday:

• The key scheme – formally known as the Afghan Relocation Route – has price £400m to date, and is predicted to price an extra £400m to £450m
• The scheme is being closed down, however relocation affords already made can be honoured
• The breach was dedicated mistakenly by an unnamed official on the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
• Folks whose particulars had been leaked had been solely knowledgeable on Tuesday

Talking within the Home of Commons, Defence Secretary John Healey supplied a “honest apology” to these whose particulars had been included within the leak, which got here to mild when some particulars appeared on Fb.

He mentioned it was because of a spreadsheet being emailed “outdoors of authorised authorities programs”, which he described as a “critical departmental error” – although the Metropolitan Police has already determined a police investigation was not vital.

Healey mentioned the leak was “one among many information losses” associated to the Afghanistan evacuation throughout that interval, and contained the names of senior army officers, authorities officers, and MPs.

The MoD has declined to say how many individuals could have been arrested or killed because of the information breach, however Healey advised MPs an impartial assessment had discovered it was “extremely unlikely” a person would have been focused solely due to it.

He mentioned that assessment had additionally judged the key scheme to be an “extraordinarily vital intervention” given the “doubtlessly restricted” threat posed by the leak.

In a Excessive Court docket judgement issued on Tuesday, Mr Justice Chamberlain mentioned it was “fairly attainable” that a few of those that noticed the Fb put up containing the leaked private information “had been Taliban infiltrators or spoke about it to Taliban-aligned people”.

An electronic mail has been despatched to these impacted by the breach, urging them to “train warning”, and take steps like defending their on-line actions and never responding to messages from unknown contacts.

Healey mentioned those that have been relocated to the UK have already been counted in immigration figures.

Tuesday’s disclosure dates again to the August 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which noticed the Taliban retake energy and shortly encompass the capital Kabul.

The leak concerned the names of people that had utilized for the Afghan Relocations and Help Coverage (Arap) scheme, which the UK authorities set as much as quickly course of functions by individuals who feared reprisals from the Taliban and transfer them to the UK.

The evacuation has already been closely criticised within the years because it was launched, with a 2022 inquiry by the International Affairs Committee discovering it was a “catastrophe” and a “betrayal”.

When the federal government arrange a brand new relocation scheme final yr in response to the leak, members of the press shortly realized in regards to the plans.

The federal government requested a choose to impose a superinjunction on the media, stopping shops by legislation from reporting any element.

Healey advised the Home even he had been prevented from talking in regards to the breach due to the “unprecedented” injunction, after being knowledgeable whereas nonetheless shadow defence secretary.

Studying a abstract of his judgment in court docket, Mr Justice Chamberlain mentioned the the gagging order had “given rise to critical free speech considerations”.

He continued: “The superinjunction had the impact of fully shutting down the unusual mechanisms of accountability which function in a democracy.

“This led to what I describe as a ‘scrutiny vacuum’.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who was in authorities when the key scheme was established, mentioned “this information leak ought to by no means have occurred and was an unacceptable breach of all related information protocols”.

Erin Alcock, a lawyer for the agency Leigh Day, which has assisted a whole bunch of Arap candidates and relations, known as the breach a “catastrophic failure”.