Latest news with #dataLeak
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Afghan nationals: have you arrived in the UK under the Afghanistan Response Route?
Thousands of Afghans have been relocated to the UK under a secret government scheme following a data leak. Personal information about more than 33,000 Afghans seeking relocation to the UK after the Taliban takeover was released in error by a defence official. Fears that the individuals named would be at risk from reprisals from the Taliban led the last government to set up a secret relocation scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), involving 20,000 people. The secret scheme, which can only now be reported after a High Court judge lifted a superinjunction on Tuesday, was first obtained by the MoD in August 2023. The scheme is closing down but the government has said it will honour any outstanding offers. Have you been affected by the MoD leak? Have you arrived in the UK under the ARR? We will not publish your response without contacting you first. We would like to hear from any Afghans who have arrived in the UK under the ARR scheme or are due to come. You can share anonymously if you prefer Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first. Contact us on Signal at +447766780300. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead. If you're having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
The failure to stand by Afghans who fought with the British has been unforgivable
Among the jaw-dropping revelations in the past few days of the mishandling of Britain's responsibility towards Afghans who fought alongside our troops, one stands out. No one has been disciplined for any of the failures of the British state in dealing with the after-effects of our withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. No one has been held to account for the leak of thousands of names of Afghans whose lives have been put in danger. We are not talking here about the British serviceman who pressed 'send' on the email to which a spreadsheet was attached containing hidden data, so much as about the senior officials responsible for ensuring secure communication of sensitive information. Holly Bancroft, our journalist who has won awards for her coverage of the Afghan special forces left behind by Britain, has reported on many other cases in which the Ministry of Defence has failed to keep data safe, including being fined by the information commissioner for mishandling of emails linked to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap). Nor has anyone been disciplined for the failure to use the time bought by the superinjunction after the leak was discovered to bring all those affected to safety. The Independent has spoken to two Afghans who served alongside British forces who are still in Afghanistan, waiting for decisions on their applications for the right to come to the UK. Their situation has now become perilous, despite the Ministry of Defence having had two years to put it right. Indeed, instead of trying to identify the remaining Afghans put at risk by the leak and to make sure that they were quickly protected, the MoD was seeking to have the injunction extended, possibly indefinitely. As we have commented before, the instinct not just of the bureaucracy but of its former political leaders seems to have been to cover up the problem rather than deal with it. This is part of a wider failure, on which The Independent has reported with a consistent sense of urgency, to deal efficiently with the relatively small numbers of people left in a vulnerable position by the allies' withdrawal four years ago. In some cases, officials have denied that members of the Afghan special forces were paid by the British, only for the evidence to be discovered later. In another case, one official was found to have refused 1,500 applications for assistance without checking them individually. We have campaigned for years against foot-dragging by the MoD, the Foreign Office and the Home Office, which has left brave Afghans who risked their lives to assist our forces in their country in limbo. Some of them were left in a state of uncertainty in the UK, such as the pilot who came to Britain in a small boat – because there was no other way – only to be threatened with deportation to Rwanda. Thanks to our campaign, he was finally given permission to stay. But there are hundreds more, some still in Afghanistan, others in Pakistan or Iran, still waiting for the British state to acknowledge its responsibility to them. This cannot go on. It is high time that the prime minister and John Healey, the defence secretary, got a grip on this issue – and that must include identifying and punishing those responsible for this shameful episode.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
John Healey ‘misled' Parliament over Afghan data leak
John Healey has been accused of misleading Parliament over the Afghan data breach. Three days ago, the Defence Secretary told MPs that no serving member of the Armed Forces had been put at risk by the leak. However, it emerged on Thursday that the identities of more than 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, had been compromised. Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, demanded Mr Healey come before the House of Commons to face questions on whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public. 'Three days ago, John Healey claimed no one serving in the Armed Forces was put at risk by the data breach,' he said. 'Today, we found out that appears to be false. 'We need to know if any serving members of the armed forces were impacted, and the Defence Secretary must urgently come before Parliament to answer the question of whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public.' The information about the effect of the data breach on UK personnel was kept secret by an super-injunction until Thursday, when the order was lifted in part by a High Court judge. It allowed media organisations to reveal that detailed case notes in the database contained personal data of special forces and spies. The Government had already admitted on Tuesday that the data of nearly 19,000 Afghans who worked with the British during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and applied to resettle in the UK had been inadvertently leaked. Many were judged to be at risk of serious harm or even death as the Taliban sought retribution against those who had worked with the British government during the conflict. The data breach occurred in February 2022 but was not discovered by the government until August 2023, when someone in Afghanistan obtained the data and posted part of it on Facebook. The data on UK personnel that was leaked involved their names, but there were no contact details such as addresses, telephone numbers or email addresses. It comes after Sir Grant Shapps, who was defence secretary when the injunction was first put in place, said he would 'do the same thing all over again'. He added: 'You simply can't release everything and this was one of those times where, faced with a decision of protecting lives, both Brits and Afghanis, I would do the same thing all over again.' Mr Healey made his comment in the Commons in response to a question from Ian Roome, a Lib Dem MP and member of the defence select committee. He said: 'To the best of my knowledge and belief, no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk by the data loss.' Speaking on Friday morning, Mr Roome said: 'The Defence Secretary gave me his assurances just three days ago that no serving members of our Armed Forces were put at risk by this appalling data breach. I am very concerned to find out that this appears not to have been correct. 'It is really important to restore public trust, and he now clarifies his remarks. It is the least that our brave armed forces personnel, along with the thousands of Afghans impacted, deserve.' Downing Street said the Defence Secretary's statement to the Commons that 'no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk' by the Afghan data leak was 'accurate' despite Sir Ed's accusations to the contrary. Asked if Mr Healey misled the House, a No 10 spokesman said: 'The Defence Secretary's statement to the House… I believe it was an accurate statement.' He said the Government is 'committed to transparency', adding: 'In terms of security of our personnel, we take that extremely seriously, particularly those in sensitive positions. 'We always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.' A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'It's long-standing policy of successive governments to not comment on special forces. 'We take the security of our personnel very seriously and personnel, particularly those in sensitive positions, always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.'
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
This is Watergate-level stuff, but Westminster won't call it so
Well, this isn't good. John Healey told a stunned Commons that, in 2022, a 'defence official' inadvertently emailed out the names of 18,714 Afghan asylum seekers, potentially sharing their 'contact details' with people who'd like to kill them. Britain might not be good at policing its borders but the Taliban sure are. We all make mistakes. Rob Jenrick keeps accidentally posting photos of himself in a state of undress, the latest being a Mr Darcy-style dip in the River Teme, glistening in trunks and a white towel. I texted him as soon as I saw it to say 'Rob, you're half-naked on Instagram'. He replied 'butterfingers!', wink, kiss and a flexing arm emoji. I fear we are only days from a leaked sex tape. Jenrick's party was in power when refugee data was apparently leaking like a Thames Water sewer. They plugged any gossip with a super-injunction. 'No government wishes to withhold information from parliamentarians, the public or the press,' lied Healey – that's the state's chief job! – so he was happy to un-injunct us and lay the facts bare. Thousands of Afghans affected by the leak have been offered refuge, we learnt; he put the cost at around £400 million. MPs asked if the official had at least been sacked, but Healey wouldn't say. He, she or they probably received counselling and a promotion, plus extra cash on Pips if they could pin it on anxiety. The mood in the House was odd. The Tories might have demanded greater clarity but held off. Labour could've wallowed in another inherited blunder, yet declined to gloat. Instead, the frontbenchers praised one another for their statesmanlike tone, leaving it to backbenchers Tan Dhesi and Emily Thornberry to express outrage. The Government endangered people's lives. It covered it up. It then paid millions to resettle the victims. This is Watergate-level stuff, but Westminster won't call it so because it's an indictment of a system and a philosophy – of open borders and never-ending wars – that almost all the parties endorse. Afghans worked with our Armed Forces, argued Catherine Atkinson, so we owe them a 'debt'. A rather high one, I'd say: tens of thousands have sought refuge here overall. How did we ever lose that war? It seems half the local population was on our side, working as translators for British soldiers who got sick of pointing and repeating in a louder voice. Afghanistan, far from being a fundamentalist backwater, must have the best education system in the world, given how many of the citizens are fluent in English. This scandal, argued Edward Leigh, is 'part of the Original Sin of us intervening militarily and then scuttling out' – and many voters would agree that we should never have been in the country in the first place. Anyone who knew about the history of Russia in Afghanistan knew it was unconquerable. Anyone who'd seen The Living Daylights could tell you it was a dump. Sir Edward hoped that Britain had 'got over the liberal imperial itch' and won't be meddling in any 'ungovernable countries' again. He didn't say if this includes meddling in Britain.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Afghan nationals: have you arrived in the UK under the Afghan Response Route?
Thousands of Afghans have been relocated to the UK under a secret government scheme following a data leak. Personal information about more than 33,000 Afghans seeking relocation to the UK after the Taliban takeover was released in error by a defence official. Fears that the individuals named would be at risk from reprisals from the Taliban led the last government to set up a secret relocation scheme, the Afghan Response Route (ARR), involving 20,000 people. The secret scheme, which can only now be reported after a High Court judge lifted a superinjunction on Tuesday, was first obtained by the MoD in August 2023. The scheme is closing down but the government has said it will honour any outstanding offers. Have you arrived in the UK under the ARR? We would like to hear from any Afghans who have arrived in the UK under the ARR scheme or are due to come. You can share anonymously if you prefer Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first. Contact us on Signal at +447766780300. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead. If you're having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.
