Latest news with #Afg
South Wales Argus
20 hours ago
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Taliban investigating death threats against UN Afghan female staff
In its latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, the UN mission to the country said dozens of female national staff were subjected to explicit death threats in May. The threats came from unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, other agencies, funds, and programmes, 'requiring the UN to implement interim measures to protect their safety', according to the report. It said the Taliban told the UN mission that their personnel were not responsible for the threats. An Interior Ministry investigation is under way, the report said. Afghan girls attend a religious studies class at the Tasnim-e-Nusrat religious education centre in Kabul (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP) The Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, said no such threats had been made. 'This is completely incorrect,' Mr Qani said. 'The ministry has an independent department for this, and we have a strategic plan for protection and security so there is no threat to them in any area, nor can anyone threaten them, nor is there any threat to them.' Mr Qani did not answer questions about an investigation. The Taliban barred Afghan women from working at domestic and foreign nongovernmental organisations in December 2022, extending this ban to the UN six months later, and then threatening to shut down agencies and groups still employing women. Humanitarian agencies say the Taliban have hampered or interfered with their operations, allegations denied by authorities. The UN report is the first official confirmation of death threats against Afghan women working in the sector. The report also highlighted other areas affecting women's personal freedoms and safety. In Herat, inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry began requiring women to wear a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head. Dozens of women deemed 'not in compliance' were barred from entering markets or using public transportation. Several women were detained until relatives brought them a chador, the report said. In Uruzgan, women were arrested for wearing a headscarf, a hijab, rather than a burqa. Women have also been denied access to public areas, in line with laws banning them from such spaces. In Ghor province, police forced several families to leave a recreational area. They warned the families against visiting outdoor picnic sites with women. In Herat, vice and virtue inspectors stopped family groups with women and girls from accessing an open recreational area, only allowing all-male groups. Nobody from the Vice and Virtue Ministry was immediately available to comment on the Ghor, Herat and Uruzgan incidents, which the UN said happened in May. In Kandahar, the Public Health Department instructed female health care workers to be accompanied to work by male guardians with an identification card proving that they were related to the woman by blood or marriage. It was not immediately clear if the card is specific to Kandahar or will be rolled out across Afghanistan. 'The process to apply for a mahram (male guardian) identification card is reportedly cumbersome and can take up to several weeks as it requires the de facto Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and a member of the local community (eg malik, imam or village elder) to verify the relationship,' the UN report said.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Up to 7,000 Afghans being relocated to UK in secret scheme after MoD data breach
Almost 7,000 Afghan nationals are being relocated to the UK following a massive data breach by the British military that the government tried to keep secret with a super injunction. The blunder exposed the personal information of close to 20,000 individuals, endangering them and their families. The Ministry of Defence said the relocation costs alone will be around £850m. An internal government document from February this year said the cost could rise to £7bn, but an MOD spokesperson said that this was an outdated figure. However, litigation against the UK arising from the mistake could add additional cost, as well as whatever the government has already spent on the super injunction. Details about the blunder can finally be made public after a judge lifted a super injunction that had been sought by the government. Barings Law, a law firm that is representing around 1,000 of the victims, accused the government of trying to hide the truth from the public following a lengthy legal battle. Defence Secretary John Healey offered a "sincere apology" for the data breach in a statement to MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon. He said he had felt "deeply concerned about the lack of transparency" around the data breach, adding: "No government wishes to withhold information from the British public, from parliamentarians or the press in this manner." The disaster is thought to have been triggered by the careless handling of an email that contained a list of the names and other details of 18,714 Afghan nationals, who had been trying to apply to a British government scheme to support those who helped or worked with UK forces in Afghanistan that were fighting the Taliban between 2001 and 2021. The collapse of the western-backed Afghan government that year, saw the Taliban return to power. The new government regards anyone who worked with British or other foreign forces during the previous two decades as a traitor. The source said a small number of people named on the list are known to have subsequently been killed though it is not clear if this was a direct result of the data breach. It is also not clear whether the Taliban has the list - only that the Ministry of Defence lost control of the information. Adnan Malik, head of data protection at Barings Law, said: "This is an incredibly serious data breach, which the Ministry of Defence has repeatedly tried to hide from the British public. "It involved the loss of personal and identifying information about Afghan nationals who have helped British forces to defeat terrorism and support security and stability in the region. "A total of around 20,000 individuals have been affected, putting them and their loved ones at serious risk of violence from opponents and armed groups." The law firm is working with around 1,000 of those impacted "to pursue potential legal action". Read more: It is thought that only a minority of the names on the list - about 10 to 15% - would have been eligible for help under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP). However, the breach means a much larger pool of people now potentially have a claim to request assistance or even to leave Afghanistan, fearing for their own security. "Through its careless handling of such sensitive information, the Ministry of Defence has put multiple lives at risk, damaged its own reputation, and put the success of future operations in jeopardy by eroding trust in its data security measures," Mr Malik said. "Our claimants continue to live with the fear of reprisal against them and their families, when they should have been met with gratitude and discretion for their service. We would expect substantial financial payments for each claimant in any future legal action. While this will not fully undo the harm they have been exposed to, it will enable them to move forward and rebuild their lives." While the Ministry of Defence's data breach is by far the largest involving Afghan nationals, it is not the first. Earlier this month, the MOD said Afghans impacted by a separate mistake could claim up to £4,000 in compensation four years after the incident happened. Human error resulted in the personal information of 265 Afghans who had worked alongside British troops being shared with hundreds of others who were on the same email distribution list in September 2021. In December 2023 the UK information commissioner fined the Ministry of Defence (MoD) £350,000 and said the "egregious" breach could have been life-threatening.
