Summary
The British government secretly resettled thousands of Afghans in the UK due to concerns that a data leak could put them at risk from the Taliban. Details of the data breach and the secret relocation only became public after a court order stopping media from discussing it was removed.
Key Facts
- The data leak revealed information on approximately 33,000 Afghans, including people who worked with UK forces in Afghanistan.
- A British soldier accidentally leaked the information by sending an email to the wrong recipients in February 2022.
- The spreadsheet included details of Afghans who applied to move to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.
- The leak was discovered when information was posted on Facebook in August 2023.
- The UK government asked Facebook to remove the post due to security concerns.
- The government initially obtained a court order to prevent media from reporting the leak.
- The “superinjunction” stopping media reporting was lifted on a Tuesday, following pressure from the media.
- The UK later created the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to help those at risk because of the leak.
