Latest news with #AfghanResponseRoute
Ottawa Citizen
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Thousands of Afghans win U.K. asylum after huge data breach
Article content London — Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.K. and their families were brought to Britain in a secret program after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the British government revealed on Tuesday. Article content Defence Minister John Healey unveiled the scheme to parliament after the U.K. High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events. Article content Article content Article content In February 2022, a spreadsheet containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to Britain was accidentally leaked by a U.K. official just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Healey said. Article content Article content 'This was a serious departmental error,' Healey said, adding: 'Lives may have been at stake.' Article content The previous Conservative government put in place a secret program in April 2024 to help those 'judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban', he said. Article content Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the program known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around 400 million pounds, Healey said. Article content Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to 850 million pounds. Article content They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. Article content Article content As Labour's opposition defence spokesman, Healey was briefed on the scheme in December 2023 but the Conservative government asked a court to impose a 'super-injunction' banning any mention of it in parliament or by the press. Article content Article content When Labour came to power in July 2024, the scheme was in full swing but Healey said he had been 'deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting' to parliament. Article content 'Ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident, as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset,' he explained. Article content Healey set up a review of the scheme when he became defence minister in the new Labour government. Article content This concluded there was 'very little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution'. Article content The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, the minister said, apologizing for the data breach which 'should never have happened'.
Vancouver Sun
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Thousands of Afghans win U.K. asylum after huge data breach
London — Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.K. and their families were brought to Britain in a secret program after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the British government revealed on Tuesday. Defence Minister John Healey unveiled the scheme to parliament after the U.K. High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events. In February 2022, a spreadsheet containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to Britain was accidentally leaked by a U.K. official just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Healey said. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'This was a serious departmental error,' Healey said, adding: 'Lives may have been at stake.' The previous Conservative government put in place a secret program in April 2024 to help those 'judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban', he said. Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the program known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around 400 million pounds, Healey said. Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to 850 million pounds. They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. As Labour's opposition defence spokesman, Healey was briefed on the scheme in December 2023 but the Conservative government asked a court to impose a 'super-injunction' banning any mention of it in parliament or by the press. When Labour came to power in July 2024, the scheme was in full swing but Healey said he had been 'deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting' to parliament. 'Ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident, as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset,' he explained. Healey set up a review of the scheme when he became defence minister in the new Labour government. This concluded there was 'very little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution'. The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, the minister said, apologizing for the data breach which 'should never have happened'. He estimated the total cost of relocating people from Afghanistan to Britain at between 5.5 billion to 6 billion pounds. Conservative party defence spokesman James Cartlidge also apologized for the leak which happened under the previous Tory government. But he defended the decision to keep it secret, saying the aim had been to avoid 'an error by an official of the British state leading to torture or even murder of persons in the dataset at the hands of what remains a brutal Taliban regime.' Healey said all those brought to the U.K. from Afghanistan had been accounted for in the country's immigration figures. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to cut the number of migrants arriving in Britain. In 2023, the U.K. defence ministry was fined 350,000 pounds by a data watchdog for disclosing personal information of 265 Afghans seeking to flee Taliban fighters in the chaotic fall of Kabul two years earlier. Britain's Afghanistan evacuation plan was widely criticized, with the government accused by MPs of 'systemic failures of leadership, planning and preparation'. Hundreds of Afghans eligible for relocation were left behind, many with their lives potentially at risk after details of staff and job applicants were left at the abandoned British embassy in Kabul. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here .
Edmonton Journal
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Thousands of Afghans win U.K. asylum after huge data breach
Article content London — Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.K. and their families were brought to Britain in a secret program after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the British government revealed on Tuesday. Article content Defence Minister John Healey unveiled the scheme to parliament after the U.K. High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events. Article content Article content Article content In February 2022, a spreadsheet containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to Britain was accidentally leaked by a U.K. official just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Healey said. Article content Article content The previous Conservative government put in place a secret program in April 2024 to help those 'judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban', he said. Article content Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the program known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around 400 million pounds, Healey said. Article content Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to 850 million pounds. Article content They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. Article content Article content As Labour's opposition defence spokesman, Healey was briefed on the scheme in December 2023 but the Conservative government asked a court to impose a 'super-injunction' banning any mention of it in parliament or by the press. Article content Article content When Labour came to power in July 2024, the scheme was in full swing but Healey said he had been 'deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting' to parliament. Article content 'Ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident, as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset,' he explained. Article content Healey set up a review of the scheme when he became defence minister in the new Labour government. Article content This concluded there was 'very little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution'. Article content The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, the minister said, apologizing for the data breach which 'should never have happened'.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Thousands of Afghans win UK asylum
Thousands of Afghans who worked with the UK and their families were brought to Britain in a secret programme after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the British government revealed on Tuesday. Defence Minister John Healey unveiled the scheme to parliament after the UK High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events. In February 2022, a spreadsheet containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to Britain was accidentally leaked by a UK official just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Healey said. "This was a serious departmental error," Healey said, adding: "Lives may have been at stake." The previous Conservative government put in place a secret programme in April 2024 to help those "judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban", he said. Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the programme known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million ($535 million), Healey said. Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to £850 million. They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. As Labour's opposition defence spokesman, Healey was briefed on the scheme in December 2023 but the Conservative government asked a court to impose a "super-injunction" banning any mention of it in parliament or by the press. When Labour came to power in July 2024, the scheme was in full swing but Healey said he had been "deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting" to parliament. "Ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident, as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset," he explained. Healey set up a review of the scheme when he became defence minister in the new Labour government. This concluded there was "very little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution". The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, the minister said, apologising for the data breach which "should never have happened". He estimated the total cost of relocating people from Afghanistan to Britain at between £5.5 billion to £6 billion.
Boston Globe
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
UK secretly resettled 4,500 Afghans in Britain after huge data breach
Super injunctions are legal mechanisms in Britain that prevent news organizations from publishing a report on a topic or even from referring to the fact that a court order has been granted. In this case, critics said, the government's initially legitimate interest in protecting the safety of Afghans was supplanted over time by a desire to avoid an embarrassing headline during an election year. Advertisement In a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, John Healey, the defense secretary for the current government, which is led by the Labor Party, said, 'I am closing this resettlement route; I'm disclosing the data loss and confirm that the court order was lifted at 12 noon today.' Advertisement Healey described the injunction, to which he was also subjected, as unprecedented, adding that he had been 'deeply concerned about the lack of transparency to Parliament and the public.' The personal data of thousands of Afghans, Healey said, was accidentally disclosed in an email from a defense official that was sent outside authorized channels in 2022. The scale of the breach was only discovered in August 2023, when details of nine individuals surfaced on social media. Alarmed by the disclosure, the Conservative government created a secret resettlement plan, called the Afghan Response Route, which has so far relocated 4,500 Afghans to Britain at a cost of about $537 million. A further 600 people and their immediate families are still to arrive, and the cost could rise to a total of around $1.13 billion. Healey said that after he came to office following last year's election, he commissioned an independent report on the matter, which was published Tuesday. Compiled by a former senior civil servant, Paul Rimmer, the report concluded that there was little evidence that the Taliban were intent on a campaign of retribution or that the exposed spreadsheet would prompt them to act against Afghans who had worked with the British. 'Given the nearly four years since the Taliban takeover,' the report said, 'posing a current threat or resistance to Taliban rule is likely to be a far more persuasive factor in the threat faced by individuals in Afghanistan, rather than former affiliations.' The breach began, Healey said, when an unnamed employee in the Defense Ministry emailed a file about an existing resettlement scheme, known as the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, which was intended for those who had worked for, or with, British forces in Afghanistan. The email was sent outside authorized systems, and it contained the names and information of those applying mainly to that program, as well as the personal details of some family members. Advertisement 'This official mistakenly believed that they were sending the details of 150 applicants. However, the spreadsheet in fact contained personal information associated to 18,714 Afghans,' Healey said, apologizing for what he called a serious error. The government's decision to seek an injunction was swiftly approved by a High Court judge in September 2023, soon after journalists learned of the data breach. It was upheld in two later rulings, though in a third hearing, Justice Martin Chamberlain ordered it to be lifted because it was likely that the Taliban already had the names of the Afghans. The government appealed his ruling, however, and it was overturned, leaving the super injunction in place. The data disclosure stirred awkward memories of Britain's fraught exit from Afghanistan, which many blamed on the United States. President Trump had negotiated a deal with the Taliban during his first term that set a timetable for pulling out US troops. President Joe Biden then presided over the chaotic, bloodstained withdrawal as Taliban fighters swept into a defenseless Kabul, the capital. But Britain's government was harshly criticized as well. Dominic Raab, then the foreign secretary, lingered on vacation on the Greek island of Crete even as Kabul was falling, contributing to the portrait of an out-of-touch government. The prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson, was accused of favoring pets over people after emails surfaced which suggested that he pushed for the evacuation of cats and dogs by a British animal charity. He denied the accusations. Advertisement This article originally appeared in
