We expect many things from our governing bodies.
In the case of our elected parliament and the many departments therein, a key aspect is protection. We elect them and are entitled to entrust our safety and security to them. We hand them the authority, they are tasked with using it wisely for the benefit of those who put them in power. That’s the deal.
Governmental failures can be catastrophic for the people. And that’s especially true of a massive blunder at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that occurred in 2022. The error in question saw the personal details of thousands of Afghanistan nationals – presumed eligible for evacuation to the UK after aiding our forces during the conflict there – leaked. It’s believed that details of more than 100 British officials, including MI6 and special forces operatives, were also released.
Nearly 20,000 Afghan nationals’ names and contact information as part of a top-secret database were mistakenly copied into an email sent by an MoD official to a trusted Afghan contact. The vital information was contained within a hidden tab in a spreadsheet. That mistake occurred in February 2022. When the breach was discovered a year and a half later, the department realised that up to 100,000 peoples’ lives could be at risk of Taliban retribution.
If discovered, they face imprisonment, torture or death at the hands of the present regime in Afghanistan.
It’s clear then that the ramifications of this horrendous error are serious. But it gets worse.
The government’s press officers were asked about the situation by national newspaper journalists who had hold of the story, and were about to splash it across their front pages. The ministry’s response was to maintain secrecy – some might say saving face – by taking out a super-injunction.
A super-injunction not only prevents the media from reporting the breach of highly-sensitive data, but also from acknowledging that the breach, or its reporting ban, even existed. The then-Conservative government argued – successfully – that lives would be at risk without the super-injunction being granted.
In total it’s believed that around 19,000 people in hiding from the Taliban, who had been planning to flee to the UK, had their highly-sensitive details leaked.
There’s a clear failure in the MoD’s duty of care at play here. A large part of making amends for such a potentially-lethal error would normally be notifying those affected that the risk to them has significantly increased. Layers of extra vulnerability have been piled upon those who risked everything to aid the allied efforts. In return, the MoD has failed in its moral obligation and, while the present government has offered an apology, it hardly covers it, since such a major threat to life remains.
The compromised information in question includes personal details that could be used to trace these Afghan nationals, who carried out all manner of roles to aid the British effort, at great risk to themselves and their families. Names and email addresses, details of their family members and the role they performed during the war have all made it into the far-from-secure world of social media. Suffice to say, this data reaching the wrong hands could lead to catastrophic consequences.
So it’s clear – this is a national security risk and the breaching of individuals’ privacy has presented genuine danger. The government had established their relocation scheme with the intention of evacuating the at-risk nationals but the ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) project closed for new applications in July. Applications received before then will still be processed, meaning those eligible (plus a spouse and children under the age of 18) will be considered for relocation to the UK. However, the government website states that ‘the ARAP does not recognise an obligation, or imply a commitment, to assist those who worked for or with the UK Government in other countries or theatres of operation, past, present or future.’
High levels of danger clearly still exist for those still seeking relocation. And, given the imminent threat, time is of the essence.
Somewhat predictably, morality-free scammers have looked to get in on the act. A number of Afghan people whose details were part of the leaked data recently received an unconvincing phishing email offering no-questions-asked compensation – paid in person via cheque. The government has since confirmed that it is indeed fake. Fortunately, a few red flags existed, such as a number of typos, a requirement for action to be taken urgently and the fact that the MoD is unlikely to issue such cheques over the counter, all of which combined to cast tell-tale doubts over its validity.
While the phishing email wasn’t wholly convincing, the mere fact that the scam has targeted them is concerning. If nothing else, it serves to confirm that sensitive data is doing the rounds in the nefarious reaches of the internet.
It’s terrifying to think of the fate that awaits those caught by the Afghan regime. They were entitled to protection from those they looked to assist during conflict.
To say they have been let down barely covers the scale of this blunder.
The breach, the clumsy (and thoroughly irresponsible) handling of it and the potentially-deadly implications of such a mistake do raise major concerns about the government’s competence, transparency and security measures.
That the MoD’s damage control effort centred on securing a super-injunction raises questions, and the number of separate data breaches in recent years – 49 in four years – is a worry too. It’s clear these are not isolated incidents, and that security at the ministry is lax, to say the least.
The Afghan nationals aided allied forces and are entitled to expect better protection than has been afforded them thus far.
After playing a lead role in having the super-injunction lifted, Barings Law has received instructions from around a thousand victims of the breach.
At Barings Law, we are representing almost 1,000 Afghan nationals and British service personnel affected by this breach. We believe this was a catastrophic failure to uphold the duty of care owed to individuals who placed their trust in the Ministry of Defence and UK government.
If you have been affected by the breach, you may be entitled to compensation. We want to hold those responsible to account and believe those affected deserve answers, redress and the opportunity to rebuild their life without fear.
You can submit your claim by clicking on the button at the bottom of this page. Our team will work with you to ensure justice is served.
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