A damning report by the cross-party defence committee said Afghans who worked with UK forces have spent years in hiding when they should have been admitted to the UK a long time ago
Harrowing failures meant Afghans who worked with UK forces spent years in hiding fearful for their lives following a data breach, a damning report has ruled.
MPs blasted the Ministry of Defence (MOD) after endangered former specialist forces members were wrongly refused entry to the UK. And they warned some who are eligible to flee still have no realistic route to safety – despite the government’s promises.
The cross-party Defence Committee criticised the secrecy that followed the accidental 2022 release of over 18,000 names – placing them at risk from the Taliban. As a result the Tory government quietly set up a new settlement route, but major flaws were uncovered.
The committee branded the breach “forseeable” and said immediate steps must be taken to support those left stranded. Chairman Tan Dhesi said: “This inquiry began with a data breach, but became about the real lives affected by delay, secrecy and flawed decision-making. The government must now explain how it will protect eligible Afghans who cannot safely, lawfully or affordably reach a third country for UK entry-clearance checks.”
He warned current policies risk excluding people who should have been brought to the UK years ago after the government promised to help. Mr Dhesi said: “The broader picture is deeply troubling. The Ministry of Defence should stick to defence – it should never have been left to run immigration casework schemes.
“Secrecy has been too easily used as a shield against proper accountability in areas far removed from sensitive operations.” The committee launched its inquiry after it emerged the personal data of thousands of Afghans who applied to move to the UK had been leaked, six months after the Taliban seized control of the country.
Details of some were later shared on a Facebook page – although the then-government used an unprecedented superinjunction to prevent details becoming public for nearly two years.
The Defence Committee said the breach was not an individual mistake but a “foreseeable systemic failure” resulting from a string of failures. The spreadsheet had details about 150 people who applied to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, as well as data relating to more than 18,500 other applications.
The report shows former Tory Defence Secretary Grant Shapps did not even inform his Labour counterpart, John Healey. The blistering report raised concerns about the treatment of so-called Triples – Afghans who had worked with UK forces but had their resettlement applications refused.
It said the government has a special reposibility to these people, who may have spent years in hiding or been forced to flee to a third country. Some were left destitute and unable to get out of Afghanistan, the document said.
Since April, a new policy meant that eligible Afghans have to fund their travel to a third country in order to undergo security checks. The Tory government was heavily criticised following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, when thousands of people attempted to flee the Taliban takeover but were unable to escape.
An MoD spokesperson said: “This incident should never have happened and we acknowledge the significant impact it has had on many people.
“Thousands of eligible Afghans have already been safely relocated to the UK, where they can rebuild their lives and we are committed to ensuring that we conclude the Afghan resettlement programme by the end of this Parliament. We are learning the lessons from this incident and important reforms are already in place, including improved data protection standards, strengthened case-working processes and better programme governance.
“We welcome the public and parliamentary scrutiny of our actions, so we can learn more and be held to account, and we’ll continue to work closely with the committee on this issue.”