A serious data breach involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who sought relocation to the UK has come to light following a High Court ruling.
The incident occurred in February 2022 when a UK Special Forces HQ official mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet containing personal details to an unauthorised recipient.
Names, contact details and family information of those who feared Taliban reprisals due to their ties to British forces were exposed.
The breach only surfaced in August 2023 after some names appeared on Facebook, prompting fears the Taliban could gain access to the data.
The government created the Afghanistan Response Route in secret to mitigate the risk, separate from the Arap scheme. Around 20,000 were deemed eligible, with 16,000 already relocated to the UK by May 2025, though an estimated 80,000 remain at risk.
A government review concluded the leak was unlikely to trigger mass reprisals, though those affected still consider it a severe failure. The scheme has already cost £400 million, with a further £450 million expected, contributing to a total Afghan relocation bill of up to £6 billion.
