More details continue to emerge about the Ministry of Defence data breach in 2022 that put thousands of Afghani people seeking relocation assistance and their family members at serious risk of Taliban reprisals.
The breach occurred when an MoD employee mistakenly emailed a dataset with information on applicants to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) outside of the secure email environment. The mistake was only first discovered more than a year later when some of the data was posted on Facebook. The government then sought, and obtained, a superinjunction that was so broad as to prevent the media from even mentioning that an injunction existed. The injunction has only first been lifted now.
Now we learn that the breach also compromised the identities of over 100 British government personnel, including MI6 spies, SAS members, members of parliament, and senior military figures. Reuters reports:
Earlier this week, defence secretary John Healey issued an apology, acknowledging that the leak also included information about lawmakers and senior military figures who supported Afghan allies seeking refuge in the UK.
The breach led the former Conservative government to launch a secret relocation programme, estimated to cost around £2 billion (€2.3 billion) to protect those affected.
The backlash against the government getting the matter hushed up for more than two years has been heated, but not everyone is apologetic.
Many people are still at risk. TVC News reports:
Between 80,000 and 100,000 people, including family members of the ARAP applicants, were affected by the breach and could be at risk of harassment, torture or death if the Taliban obtained their data, judges said in June 2024.
So far, around 4,500 people – made up of 900 ARAP applicants and approximately 3,600 family members – have been brought to the UK or are currently in transit through the Afghanistan Response Route.
A further estimated 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, bringing the total to around 6,900 individuals by the end of the programme.