I'm Terrified: Afghans Fear for Themselves and Their Families Over Data Leak

The Guardian has spoken to Afghans whose details were included in a 2022 data leak, which was made public on Tuesday after a superinjunction was lifted. All names have been changed.

- Emine Sinmaz Diane Taylor Deepa Parent

Azizullah I worked with UK and coalition forces as an interpreter in Helmand and Kandahar for more than a decade. When I read the email on the morning of 15 July, I froze. It felt like my blood had turned to ice. Finding that the UK government had accidentally leaked the names and details of people like me - Afghans who had worked with British forces, who had trusted them and who are now living in fear because of that trust.

The first thing that flashed through my mind wasn't myself. It was my family. My mother, my brother, my sister, they're in Turkey, waiting. We've been waiting for four years under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), sending email after email, holding on to the promise that the UK would not abandon us. And now this. This breach. This betrayal.

It's not just them. My aunt and her children are still in Afghanistan. They worked extensively with Isaf (the International Security Assistance Force) earlier and later the coalition forces. They are in hiding now. If they are found, they will die. There is no question. We are not talking about hypothetical risk. We are talking about people being hunted, arrested, tortured, killed. And it's happening now.