Thousands of Afghans relocated to UK in secret scheme after data leak

Breach risked allowing personal details to fall into hands of the Taliban

- Dan Sabbagh Emine Sinmaz

Conservative ministers used an unprecedented superinjunction to suppress a data breach that required the UK to offer relocation to 15,000 Afghans in a secret scheme with a potential cost of more than £2bn. The Afghan Response Route was created in haste after it emerged that personal information about 18,700 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK had been leaked in error by a British defence official in early 2022.

Panicked ministers and officials at the Ministry of Defence learned of the breach in August 2023 after data was posted to a Facebook group and applied to the high court for an injunction, the first sought by a British government - to prevent any further media disclosure.

It was feared that publicity could put the lives of thousands of Afghans at risk if the Taliban, who had control of the country after the western withdrawal in August 2021, became aware of the leaked list and obtained it.

The judge in the initial trial, Mr Justice Robin Knowles, granted the application "contra mundum" against the world - and ruled that its existence remain secret, resulting in a superinjunction, which remained in place until lifted today.

The gagging order meant that both the data breach and the expensive mitigation scheme remained hidden despite its size and cost until the near two-year legal battle was brought to a close in the high court.

At noon yesterday, the high court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain, said it was time to end the superinjunction, which he said had the effect of concealing discussions about spending "the sort of money which makes a material difference to government spending plans and is normally the stuff of political debate".