U.K. Secretly Resettled Afghans after Data Breach

The Washington Post

15:13 JST, July 16, 2025

LONDON – The British government revealed Tuesday that thousands of Afghans were resettled secretly in the United Kingdom after a significant data breach by a British defense official mistakenly exposed their personal details, some of which later appeared on Facebook.

The previously undisclosed resettlements came to light after a rare “super injunction” – a court-imposed gag order – was lifted, allowing journalists to report on the episode for the first time.

“To all those whose information was compromised, I offer a sincere apology today on behalf of the British government,” Defense Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Britain sent the second-largest contingent of troops to Afghanistan after the United States. About 150,000 soldiers served during a 13-year mission, including Prince Harry.

Like the United States, Britain relied on thousands of Afghan interpreters, drivers and local staff, many of whom were viewed to be at serious personal risk when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

Britain’s challenges in relocating Afghan allies who supported the war effort echo frustrations in the U.S., where thousands of Afghans remain in limbo because of shifting policies, bureaucratic delays and unfulfilled promises.

The data leak occurred in February 2022, six months after the chaotic fall of Kabul, when a U.K. defense official sent an email “outside of authorized government systems,” Healey said. The email contained a spreadsheet containing “personal information associated to 18,714 Afghans” who had applied to resettle in Britain, he said.

The leak was discovered in August 2023 when some of the details appeared on Facebook.

Healey confirmed that journalists had become aware of the breach, but before they published anything, the Conservative government at the time was granted a “super injunction,” a controversial court order that barred journalists from reporting about the case or about the existence of the injunction.

In response, the government set up a new pathway for Afghans whose data was compromised and who weren’t able to access any other route to resettle in Britain. These people were “judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban,” Healey said.

About 900 applicants, and 3,600 family members, are in Britain or in transit under the secret relocation procedure. Healey said that there will be no new offers and the route is now closed, although 600 invitations already issued – to applicants and their families – will be honored.

The government estimates that the secret resettlement plan, called the Afghan Relocation Route, will cost between 800 million and 850 million pounds, or about $1.07 billion to $1.14 billion.

A further 36,000 Afghans were brought to Britain under various other relocation routes.

The government said an independent review, completed last month, found that there was little evidence that the Taliban would seek retribution against individuals whose names were in the breach.

In a sharp rebuke highlighting the importance of free speech, High Court Judge Martin Chamberlain wrote in his judgment published Tuesday that the gag order “gave rise to serious free speech concerns.”

“The grant of a super-injunction had the effect of completely shutting down the ordinary mechanisms of accountability which operate in a democracy,” Chamberlain wrote. “This led to what I described as a ‘scrutiny vacuum.’”

The Ministry of Defense said in a blog post that Afghans caught up in the data leak should be “vigilant,” and should “exercise caution and not take phone calls or respond to messages or emails from unknown contacts.”