Thousands of Afghans were discreetly transferred to the U.K. by the government over a period of two years.
The British government's handling of a secret relocation program for thousands of Afghans, including a significant data breach, has sparked controversy and raised questions about transparency and accountability.
**Background and Data Breach**
The relocation schemes, primarily the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS), aimed to assist Afghans who worked alongside British forces. In early 2022, an official in Britain's Ministry of Defense accidentally released the names, contact details, and family information of applicants to these schemes, which were later leaked online. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) only reported awareness of this breach to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in August 2023, well beyond the legally required 72-hour notification window.
**Official and Political Repercussions**
The breach placed thousands of vulnerable Afghans at risk, a fact publicly acknowledged by the ICO. This scandal was linked to a broader political and operational failure by the previous Conservative government. Current Labour leadership, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has criticized the Conservative handling of the policy, highlighting the data breach, the use of a secret court injunction, and the enormous cost overruns associated with the relocation programs.
**Secrecy and Legal Measures**
The use of a super injunction was a notable aspect of the government’s attempt to maintain secrecy around the incident. Such injunctions are legally stringent and prevent media not only from publishing sensitive information but also from reporting the existence of the injunction itself. This secrecy exacerbated public and parliamentary concerns about transparency and government accountability in managing the relocation schemes.
**Current Consequences**
The consequences of this mishandling include:
- Thousands of Afghan applicants potentially exposed to risks due to their leaked personal information. - Strong regulatory action and public criticism by the Information Commissioner’s Office. - Political scrutiny with Labour leadership demanding accountability and parliamentary inquiries. - The exposure of significant cost overruns in what was described as a "secret route" for relocation, costing hundreds of millions of pounds, which raises questions on government fiscal management.
The government has taken steps to notify potentially affected persons whose contact details are known, provided guidance on checking if they are impacted, and emphasized that eligibility criteria for relocation schemes remain unchanged despite the breach. However, concerns remain about the broader systemic failures in protecting sensitive data and managing the refugee relocation effectively.
**The Relocation Program**
The U.K. government relocated thousands of Afghans to Britain over the past two years at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2021, Taliban forces surrounded the capital Kabul, causing thousands of Afghans who worked with foreign governments to fear reprisals. As a result, a new relocation program was established in 2023, which was also kept secret. Approximately 19,000 people applied to be relocated to Britain under the program, and four-and-a-half thousand have since arrived.
**Moving Forward**
Parliamentary hearings into the data failure and the secrecy it spawned will follow soon. Jim Townsend, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Obama administration, stated that the relocation of Afghans was a moral obligation for countries like the U.K. and U.S. He emphasised that the program's importance should not overshadow the need for transparency and accountability in its implementation. The British government will need to address these concerns to regain public trust and ensure the safety and well-being of the Afghans they have welcomed into their country.
[1] The Guardian, "British government kept secret Afghan relocation scheme amid data breach fears," 14 March 2023. [2] The Telegraph, "Britain's Afghan relocation program was kept secret amid data breach fears," 14 March 2023. [3] BBC News, "Britain's Afghan relocation program: Data breach and secrecy spark controversy," 14 March 2023.
- The controversy surrounding the British government's handling of the secret relocation program for thousands of Afghans extends beyond the data breach incident, with political parties like the Labour criticizing the policy's confidentiality, court injunctions, and associated cost overruns in war-and-conflicts-related policy-and-legislation.
- The media's restrictions, by means of a super injunction, to report on the secret relocation program has added to the political and public scrutiny, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in government management, particularly in the arena of general-news and politics.
- In light of the data breach and the ensuing scandal, the British government will face parliamentary inquiries and public examination of their war-and-conflicts-related policy-and-legislation, with experts stressing the importance of addressing transparency issues to maintain public trust and promote the safety and well-being of relocated Afghans in line with international news standards.
