Leaked data: UK set up secret scheme to resettle thousands of Afghans

The UK has set up a secret scheme to resettle thousands of Afghans to the UK after people's personal details were exposed in a data leak, and after the risk of Taliban retaliation emerged after their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, court documents showed, Reuters reported today.

Concerns that the named individuals could be targeted by the Taliban led the previous Conservative government to establish a relocation plan, which involved thousands of people and was estimated to cost the government two billion pounds ($2,7 billion).

British Defense Secretary John Healy has apologized for the leak, which included details of members of parliament and senior military officers who supported requests to help soldiers who worked with the British military and their families relocate to the UK from Afghanistan.

"This serious data incident should never have happened. It may have happened three years ago under the previous government, but to everyone whose data was compromised, I offer my sincere apologies," Healy told MPs in the House of Commons.

Healy said around 4.500 people affected were "in Britain or in transit... at a cost of around £400m".

But he added that no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum because of the leak.

News of the leak comes at a time when the state of public finances in the UK is difficult, and the right-wing, anti-immigration political party Reform UK is leading in opinion polls.

British forces were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States (US), and played a major role in combat operations in Afghanistan until 2014.

The government is facing lawsuits from those affected by this security breach, further increasing the ultimate cost of the incident.