Thousands of Afghans who collaborated with the UK, along with their families, were brought to Britain through a covert program after a data breach in 2022 endangered their lives, the British government disclosed on Tuesday.
Defence Minister John Healey disclosed the move to Parliament after the UK High Court lifted a strict injunction on Tuesday, which had previously prevented any reports about the situation.
In February 2022, a UK official accidentally leaked a spreadsheet featuring the names and information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had requested relocation to Britain, just six months following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, according to Healey.
The prior Conservative government established a covert program in April 2024 aimed at assisting those “deemed to be at the greatest risk of retaliation from the Taliban,” he said.
According to Healey, approximately 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have either been brought to Britain or are currently in transit due to the Afghan Response Route initiative, which has incurred a cost of around £400 million. An additional 600 applications have also been accepted, pushing the estimated total expenditure of the program to £850 million.
They are part of around 36,000 Afghans who Britain has accepted through various programs since the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
As Labour’s opposition defence spokesperson, Healey was informed about the program in December 2023; however, the Conservative government sought a court’s intervention to impose a “super-injunction” that prohibited any discussion of it in parliament or by the media.
Upon Labour taking office in July 2024, the scheme was already operational, but Healey expressed that he felt “deeply uncomfortable being restricted from informing” the parliament.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Britain.
In 2023, the UK’s defence ministry was fined £350,000 by a data regulatory body for disclosing personal information of 265 Afghans who were trying to escape from Taliban fighters during the tumultuous fall of Kabul two years prior.
Britain’s plan for evacuating Afghanistan faced widespread criticism, with MPs accusing the government of “systemic failures in leadership, planning, and preparation.”
Numerous Afghans eligible for relocation were left behind, many of whom faced potential danger after details about staff and job applicants were abandoned at the former British embassy in Kabul.