The United Kingdom has quietly relocating thousands of Afghans, including many individuals who worked with British forces to the country after a leak of personal information raised concerns that the Taliban could potentially target them. The British government revealed this information on Tuesday.
According to reports, the UK will be closing the resettlement program, which was previously subject to a rare court order that prohibited the media from disclosing its existence.
Expressing regret over the secrecy, Defence Secretary John Healey apologized to those affected by saying, “To all those whose information was compromised, I offer a sincere apology today.” He also acknowledged his concerns over the lack of transparency to both Parliament and the public.
Healey further added that a spreadsheet containing personal information of nearly 19,000 individuals who applied to come to the UK after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was mistakenly released in 2022 due to a defense official’s email error. The then-Conservative government became aware of the leak when some of the data was published on Facebook 18 months later.
The government then sought a court order to prevent any further disclosure of the leak. Eventually, a super injunction was issued by the High Court, which barred anyone from revealing its existence.
In response, the government established a secret program, the Afghan Response Route, to provide refuge to those Afghans deemed to be at greatest risk from the country’s Taliban rulers.
However, the injunction was lifted on Tuesday, in line with the decision made by Britain’s current Labour Party government to make the program public.
The British government stated that approximately 4,500 Afghans (comprising 900 applicants and approximately 3,600 family members) have already been brought to Britain under this program. They also anticipate the relocation of about 6,900 individuals by the time the program closes, at a total cost of approximately £850 million ($1.1 billion).
Since 2021, around 36,000 Afghans have been relocated to the UK through other resettlement routes.
Critics argue that thousands of individuals who assisted British troops as interpreters or in various roles are still at risk of being tortured, imprisoned, or even killed.
Sean Humber, a lawyer at Leigh Day, which has represented many Afghan claimants, described the data breach as “catastrophic” and expressed that it caused “anxiety, fear, and distress” for those affected.
Source: http://www.africanews.com/2025/07/15/thousands-of-afghans-secretly-relocated-to-uk-after-data-leak/
