Revealed: Secret mission to rescue thousands of Afghan allies on kill list

THOUSANDS of Afghans are being relocated to the UK in a secret £850million scheme set up by the previous Tory Government, it can be revealed.

- By Emily Wright

The move was prompted by a data leak of details about nearly 19,000 people who had applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

It was released “in error” in February 2022 by an unnamed British defence official.

The Ministry of Defence only became aware when excerpts were anonymously posted onto Facebook in August 2023.

Following the leak, a secret Afghan relocation scheme was created — the Afghanistan Response Route — in April 2024.

The scheme is understood to have cost around £400m so far, but an additional £400m to £450m is expected to be dished out.

Moreover, millions more is expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation.

The scheme has so far seen around 4,500 people - 900 Arap applicants and 3,600 family members being brought to the UK or in transit.

A further 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, bringing the expected total to around 6,900 people by its end.

The leaked data included names and contact details of the Arap applicants and their family members.

Arap was responsible for relocating Afghan nationals who had worked for or with the UK Government and were, therefore, at risk of reprisals once the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

A superinjunction kept the scheme's existence a secret, but a High Court ruling yesterday now allows it to be reported.