Getty imagesA major data violation that caused thousands of Afghans to be secretly transferred to Britain, became a public knowledge for the first time this week.
On Tuesday, the High Court ruled that it was the time to see daylight for details – but the revelations have raised as many questions as they asked.
What data was leaked and how was it discovered?
A spreadsheet with personal details of around 19,000 people who asked Taliban to escape to Britain, he was accidentally leaked by an officer working in the Ministry of Defense in February 2022.
The anonymous official emailed the document outside the government team outside the processing of Afghan Rehabilitation Applications and made its way into the public domain.
The police decided that there is no need for any investigation – but we do not know if the officer is still employed by the government.
The leaked document had names, contact details and, in some cases, family information of a large number of people, who believed that their association with the British Army during the Afghanistan war could leave them at risk.
The leak came out only in August 2023, when the names of nine people who applied to the UK on Facebook.
The government realized that the list was out of there and, fearing that it could fall into the hands of the Taliban, demanded the court to suppress any knowledge by receiving the prohibition of the court.
How many people were transferred after the violation?
In September 2023, it was feared that more than 100,000 leaks could be affected, taking into account family members.
In April 2024, the government set up the Afghanistan response route (ARR) for those whose details were included to include the way out of Afghanistan – but they were not told about the leakage.
This new, secret route was different from the main Afghan transfer and aid policy (ARAP) scheme.
By May 2024, the court saw evidence that around 20,000 people could be eligible for transfer under the new scheme.
Defense Secretary John Heli said on Tuesday that around 900 people are already in Britain or on their way with 3,600 members of their family.
Another 600 offers are being made, although they did not specify whether the families of those have been included or not.
We do not know how many people are still in Afghanistan in the leaked list.
Overall, around 36,000 Afghans have moved to Britain since the return of international soldiers. Both ARR and ARAP schemes are now closed.
Did anyone die as a result of leaks?
It is certainly not possible to say whether someone was damaged as a direct result of leaks, and the mod has refused to be drawn on the matter.
However, a review for the government by retired civil servant Paul Rimmer in early 2025, leaked document found that “initially may not be widely spread widely”, and previous assessment suspects that the information will be very priced for the Taliban.
Mr. Rimmar concluded that, the Taliban already had access to the mass of data about the population of Afghanistan, it was “unlikely” that it would be the only reason for a vengeance attack.
He said that murders and human rights violations against former officials are “less” about a comprehensive vengeance campaign.
But the people involved in the leaked document have considered it a terrible failure that has increased the risk for them and their families.
What was the financial cost of the secret rehabilitation plan?
The government has so far spent £ 400m on the scheme and is estimated to spend £ 450m further.
It is much below secretly heard estimates in the High Court in May 2024, stating that it could cost “many billions”.
Overall, the final cost of all efforts to move Afghans from 2021 will be around £ 5.5- £ 6BN, the government has said.
What is a super-mentor and why someone was kept?
The then Defense Secretary Ben Walse made an application in the High Court on 1 September 2023, demanding an prohibition that would criminalize to make the leaks public.
The Taliban can look for the list and use it to target people, the government feared.
Mr. Justice Nools said the request was “extraordinary” and went “ahead” asked by the government, upgraded to super-transmission. This made both of them illegal to reveal the details of the leak and refer to the existence of the court order.
It was regularly reviewed by another judge, Shri Justice Chamberlain, who stated in November 2023 that it was the first prohibition of its kind and increased the freedom of speech concerns.
He demanded to raise the order on the following May but the government appealed and remained before it was raised on Tuesday.
Another prohibition was given to prevent some of the most sensitive details from being made public in the leaked document.
Who knew what is in the government, and when?
From August 2023, efforts were made to ban the number of officers within the mode which knew about the leaks, and it is not clear that the then Prime Minister Rishi Sanskash and other cabinet ministers were conveyed.
In December 2023, Hail – who was the then Shadow Defense Secretary – was given information on the leak by the then Armed Forces Minister James HeP.
Hele said that the Chhaya Cabinet was not described more widely after the general election.
At any point, MPs were not aware of the leakage, which raised questions about the ability of the Commons to investigate the case.
The BBC News understands that the labor ministers decided the final autumn that they need to see whether the super-line has to be raised.
The hearing was held in November 2024 and a senior modes source told BBC News that the government’s situation at that time was that the super-inn should be “pending” further work.
But the source said that the ministers privately agreed that a review was needed in view of the possibility of ending super-injections.
By the time the super-in-innovation was removed, seven media organizations were discovered about the leaks and were blocked by the publication details.
Additional Reporting by Jack Fenvic
