How were identities of thousands of Afghan refugees leaked by the British military? | Dishes messages

The British government secretly relocated thousands of Afghans in the United Kingdom because they feared that they could be targeted by the Taliban after their personal details were leaked through, Minister of Defense John Healey announced on Tuesday.

Details about the violations of the random data by a British soldier and the secret movement program for Afghans became known on Tuesday after a rare court order, which was as “superinjuction” that prevents the media from being opened at all.

We know the following about what happened and how the government reacted:

Whose data has been leaked through and how did it happen?

A table with the personal information of around 18,700 Afghans and their relatives – around 33,000 people – was accidentally forwarded to the wrong recipients in February 2022 by e -mail, Healey told the legislator in the lower house.

These were people who had applied between August 2021 and January 7, 2022 to move to Great Britain. This was the period of six months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after the US and Allied armed forces from the country. Most had worked as a translator, assistants or in other functions for the British military in Afghanistan.

They had applied for the British system of Afghan moving and auxiliary politics (ARAP), which, like its predecessor, had been set up the ex-Gratia program (EGS) for Afghans who had worked for the British armed forces.

The EGS was originally founded in 2013 after a long campaign by activists and media to support people who supported the British military in Afghanistan and who were probably exposed to the Taliban as reprisals.

The British soldier in the center of the leak, which had been commissioned to review applications for the move, is said to have mistakenly believed that the database contained the names of 150 applicants when it actually contained personal information that was associated with around 18,714 people.

The soldier was under the command of General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, who at that time was director of Special Forces and now heads the British Navy. His name had also been suppressed by the court decision until this week.

The British Ministry of Defense (Mod) became aware of the leak when someone else published parts of the data on Facebook on August 14, 2023. The Facebook post was first discovered by an activist who supported Afghans who had worked with British armed forces.

The activist contacted the mod and said: “The Taliban may have made a 33,000-length killing list of essentials available by the British government. If one of these families is murdered, the government is liable,” reported the Guardian newspaper.

How did the government react to the leak?

The mod asked Facebook to deduct the contribution with the leaked information, citing the Taliban security threats. It also warned around 1,800 ARAP applicants who had fled to Pakistan that they or their families could be in danger.

The British government, led by the former conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak, then applied for a court order that prevented the data injury in the media.

On September 1, 2023, a judge in London in London published a “super -radiation”, which not only prohibits the disclosure of details, but also prohibits that the order exists at all. This great function was lifted on Tuesday after a Times newspaper in London after a campaign.

In April 2024, the government created the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to support Afghans who are out of the question for ARAP, but were high risk of reprisals from the Taliban due to the data leak.

This program, which was kept secret, has now been closed, Healey told the House of Commons. However, he added that Afghans and their families were issued hundreds of invitations as part of the program, and these invitations are “honored”.

The government also started the secret operation Rubific to evacuate the Afghans, which were endangered as directly in Great Britain.

How many Afghans were moved to Great Britain as part of the secret program?

As a direct result of the leak, 900 people and around 3,000 relatives have already been flown to Great Britain as part of the secret movement program and set up in hotels or military bases. A total of around 24,000 Afghans, which are affected by the violation, have already been brought to Great Britain or will be in the near future, according to the British media reports.

So far, 35,245 Afghans have been moved to Great Britain by wider resettlement systems, according to official data.

Why is this information disclosed now?

The court order, which looked the details of the leak from the disclosure, was lifted on Tuesday at 12 p.m. (11:00 a.m. GMT).

After several private hearings, a judge of the Supreme Court decided in May that the injunction should be lifted, among other things, the inability of the public or parliament to examine the government's decisions.

British News Outlet The Times reported that it had led the two -year legal dispute, which led to the injunction was lifted.

However, this decision was canceled by the Court of Appeal in July 2024 due to concerns about the potential risks for people whose information was leaked.

Then came the “Rimmer Review”.

Healey, a member of the ruling Labor party of Prime Minister Keir Starrer, said that he was informed about the leak when it served as a shadow defense secretary at that time. However, he added that other cabinet members were only informed about the leak when the Starrer party was elected to power in the general elections in July 2024.

“As a parliamentarian – and as Minister of Government – it was deeply uncomfortable to report to this house. And today I am grateful to pass on the details to the parliament,” said Healey on Tuesday.

Healey said that at the beginning of this year he commissioned the former high -ranking officials and former deputy head of the defense information Paul Rimmer to carry out an independent review.

Heley quoted the “Rimmer evaluation” in parliament on Tuesday that four years since the Taliban took over in Afghanistan: “There are hardly any indications of the intention of the Taleban [sic] carry out a retaliation campaign against former officials. “

He added that the information that the Taliban had inherited from the former Afghan government would have already allowed them to target individuals if they wanted. Therefore, Rimmer came to the conclusion that it was “highly unlikely” that the information from a person in the leaked table had an important information that enables the Taliban for the action.

“However, Rimmer is clear – he emphasizes uncertainty in all judgments … and he does not exclude any risk,” said Healey.

How safe are the people who are now called in the leak?

The Times reported that after the overturning of the super instance, a new temporary court decision was issued, which published the media through the publication of specific sensitive details about what exactly was in the database.

The Times said that the government had given reasons of confidentiality and national security and argues that the leaked list is still a threat to the safety of the Afghans.

In a website published on Tuesday, the mod states: “At the moment there is no evidence that the table has been seen or used by others who may try to take advantage of the information. However, the British government cannot rule out this option.”

It now recommends that those who have applied for the Arap or EGS programs before January 7, 2022 to avoid caution, to avoid telephone calls or messages from unknown numbers to limit their social media profiles and, if possible, use a virtual private network (VPN).

In the media based in the UK, a law firm sued the mod in the name of at least 1,000 Afghans affected by the data leaks.

How much did the leak cost the British government?

Healey said on Tuesday that it had already cost £ 400 million (540 million US dollars) to bring initial 900 Afghans and their 3,600 family members to Great Britain after the Arr.

However, this does not take into account the expenditure of other government systems in order to move Afghan to Great Britain. Healey estimated that the total costs for the move from Afghan to Great Britain were between £ 5.5 and £ 6 billion ($ 7.4 billion to USD 8 billion).

Different numbers for how much the leak cost the United Kingdom. An unazed government official announced Reuters that the leak had cost the United Kingdom around £ 2 billion (USD 2.7 billion). Other sales outlets have reported that ARR is expected to cost the British government a total of £ 850 million (USD 1.1 billion).