Britain covertly transported thousands of Afghan nationals to the country over a two-year period.
In the summer of 2021, thousands of Afghans grew nervous as Taliban forces approached Kabul. Amidst this turmoil, the British government set up a program to help resettle thousands of Afghan citizens in the United Kingdom. This initiative, known as the Afghan Relocation Route, has already cost hundreds of millions of pounds and brought over 4,000 Afghans to Britain, with expectations of the cost exceeding $1 billion.
However, the programme faced a significant setback in February 2022 when a data breach occurred, revealing personal information of 19,000 individual applicants. This breach included names, contact details, and family information of those who sought safety in Britain. The MoD only became aware of it in August 2023, more than a year after it occurred.
The breach put Afghan nationals who had assisted UK forces at risk, prompting the government to initially pursue a legal injunction to keep the breach secret. This injunction, known as a super-injunction, lasted nearly two years before it was lifted in 2025, revealing the breach publicly. The super-injunction was criticised for "shutting down the ordinary mechanisms of accountability which operate in a democracy."
New settlement schemes were established to help those affected who were not eligible under the original Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) but were judged at high risk from Taliban reprisals. The investigation into the data breach found it to be a serious departmental error by the UK Ministry of Defence that breached strict data protection protocols.
The British government sought a "super-injunction" to protect Afghans most at risk during the relocation process. The parliamentary Defence Committee is planning parliamentary hearings into the failure and subsequent secrecy surrounding the data breach.
Jim Townsend, a former U.S. deputy assistant defense secretary, stated that relocations are both a moral obligation and hold future national security implications. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised the "failings" inherited from the Conservative government in office until last July.
Remembrance Sunday service was held at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan in 2014, marking the sacrifices made by British forces in the region. The current British defense secretary, John Healey, has revealed details of the data breach and the relocation program to Parliament. The MoD has reported the data breach to both the Metropolitan Police and the Information Commissioner’s Office, but the investigation is still ongoing.
- The super-injunction, which was sought by the British government to protect Afghans most at risk during the relocation process, was criticised for "shutting down the ordinary mechanisms of accountability which operate in a democracy."
- The MoD has reported the data breach to both the Metropolitan Police and the Information Commissioner’s Office, but the investigation into the incident, which included personal information of 19,000 individual applicants, is still ongoing.
- The current British defense secretary, John Healey, has revealed details of the data breach and the relocation program to Parliament.
- Amidst the financial cost of the Afghan Relocation Route, which the British government set up to help resettle thousands of Afghans in the United Kingdom, the potential cost of ESG-focused investment funds such as ETFs in improving the capital risk associated with these types of programs should be considered by policymakers and general news outlets.
