WhatsApp message urges Afghans to sue Britain
The message gave details of how to lodge a legal complaint through Barings, a Manchester-based law firm that specialises in privacy and data breach cases.
It provided the web address for a portal for Barings where Afghans can complete a compensation claim form, and was widely circulated among Afghans living not only in Afghanistan but also Pakistan and the UK.
Barings has 1,000 Afghan clients suing the Government over the data breach and is adding 100 claims a day following the lifting of the super-injunction covering the case on Tuesday.
Up until Tuesday, the law firm - like the media - was prevented from highlighting the data breach or the existence of the injunction.
Barings said it first became aware of the data leak in March after being contacted by an Afghan who found the company in an online search for firms specialising in such cases. In the space of a few weeks, 650 Afghans had instructed Barings to act on their behalf.
However, Adnan Malik, the lawyer heading up the group action, said: 'We didn't send any WhatsApp messages.'
He said that all Barings correspondence with clients was by email and he had never seen the spreadsheet containing the records of 25,000 Afghans who had applied for asylum in the UK, which was accidentally leaked in February 2022 .
The Ministry of Defence was first made aware of the data breach 18 months later in August 2023 when a case worker warned officials of the circulation of a 'kill list'.
Mr Malik informed the Government Legal Department in April that his firm was acting for Afghans over the data breach. On April 15, the Government slapped a superinjunction on him preventing him from discussing the case.
'100 new cases a day'
Mr Malik said: 'We had about 800 cases before the injunction was lifted and now we have 1,000. We are getting 100 a day coming in. No doubt the Government wanted the injunction because this is going to cost the Government a lot of money.'
Each claim is worth a 'five-figure sum', according to Barings. With 25,000 names on the list – and extended families also put in danger of reprisals by the Taliban – the final legal bill could exceed a quarter of a billion pounds. The data breach alone could be worth up to £10,000 per claimant with much bigger compensation for any resulting risk to life.
Under the terms of the conditional fee agreement clients must sign, Barings receive their fees and expenses – capped at 25 per cent – of any successful claim.
The Government, which has already spent billions flying people endangered by the leak out of Afghanistan, has said it will fight the compensation case, although the MoD declined to say on what grounds.
On its website, Barings states: 'Barings Law are helping Afghan nationals who assisted British Forces seek justice after the Ministry of Defence exposed their identities, placing them at risk of serious harm. The MoD has tried to suppress the data breach for nearly three years by taking out a super-injunction.'
Separately, a former Afghan soldier who fled to Iran because his name appeared on the leaked spreadsheet, said he had been added to a WhatsApp group that included British phone numbers allegedly belonging to three lawyers based in London. There is no evidence the lawyers were genuine or worked for reputable firms in the UK.
The man, who worked alongside the British military in Afghanistan, said: 'I was added to a WhatsApp group with three other British numbers. They said they were lawyers in London and could help me get money from the UK Government.
'They said they would help me get thousands of pounds from their Government and asked me to send them my banking details and sign a letter to confirm they are my lawyers.'
The individuals, who used random characters instead of real names in their biographical details, told him they would bring him to Britain and that he should pay them 30 per cent after receiving compensation from the government.
'I thought it was a scam and told my British contacts about it,' he said.
When the Afghan man asked how they found him, the purported lawyers said 'that's not important,' he added.
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