Thousands of Afghans won't be compensated by UK for data breach

Afghans wait in line in Kabul in 2021 to flee on evacuation flights

Thousands of Afghans whose personal details were leaked but who were not evacuated to Britain are not expected to receive any compensation.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will "robustly defend against any legal action or compensation", a spokesperson told the BBC, adding that these were "hypothetical claims".

The MoD will also not proactively give small payouts to people whose lives were put in danger after the February 2022 leak, the Times reported.

The names and details of more than 19,000 people were leaked, with many Afghans now saying they fear retribution from the Taliban.

The spokesperson added that an independent review, known as the Rimmer review, commissioned by the Defence Secretary John Healey found: "It is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet would be grounds for an individual to be targeted."

This week, Healey announced the lifting of a super-injunction that made it illegal to both publicise the leak and refer to the existence of the court order.

That came after the completion of the Rimmer review, which concluded: "There is little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution against former officials."

The largest lawsuit is being prepared by Barings Law, a firm that has more than 1,000 Afghan clients, according to The Times.

It is unclear how many of those clients are currently in Afghanistan.

The leak occurred when an unnamed official emailed the spreadsheet outside of the government team processing Afghan relocation applications and it made its way into the public domain.

Knowledge of the leak only emerged in August 2023, when the names of nine people who had applied to move to the UK appeared on Facebook.

One of those affected by the leak is Ahmed - not his real name - who worked for the British military in Afghanistan and was brought to the UK for his own safety.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he discovered on Tuesday that his own family members, who have remained in Afghanistan, were on the list of leaked names.

His relatives are "moving home to home" and "keeping low profiles" to protect themselves, he said.

He dismissed the idea that compensation could make amends, adding: "The first thing we need from the government, and [are] expecting - they should swiftly take action and bring our families to Britain or to a third country where they feel safe."

He added it was a "distressing and worrying situation" for the family.

The Taliban leadership continues to face international isolation due to its human rights abuses, especially those targeting women. Russia is the only country that recognises the current Afghan government, and the British embassy to Kabul has remained close since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

An Afghan man who had been turned down for relocation was responsible for sharing the names on Facebook, and was offered an expedited review of his application in return for taking it down, the BBC reported last week.

More than 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, were compromised in the same data breach.

Since the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan, more than 36,000 Afghans have moved to the UK. Of those, more than 16,000 individuals were deemed to have been at risk from the leak, the MoD confirmed to the BBC.

The government has so far spent £400m on the scheme to relocate Afghans.

But the total cost of relocating all Afghans is expected to rise to around £5.5-£6bn, according to the government.