Thousands of Afghans Resettled in the UK Caught Up in Fresh Data Breach
A fresh data breach has exposed the personal details of thousands of Afghans resettled in the UK, sparking renewed fears for those who fled the Taliban.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that up to 3,700 Afghans, many of whom worked alongside British troops, may have had their names, passport information and relocation references compromised.
The breach was traced to Inflite The Jet Centre, a contractor at London Stansted Airport, after a cyber incident hit its email systems.
Officials insisted the leak posed no immediate danger. A government spokesperson said the breach “has not posed any threat to individuals’ safety, nor compromised any government systems”. They also stressed there was “no evidence” that the data had been released publicly.
This latest incident comes just weeks after it was revealed that a 2022 error had exposed the details of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to escape Taliban rule. That earlier mistake saw names, contact details and family information accidentally circulated in a leaked spreadsheet.
Emails sent out on Friday warned Afghan families that personal data may have been exposed. “This may include passport details (including name, date of birth, and passport number) and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) reference numbers,” the message read.
The breach is not limited to Afghans. Reports suggest British military personnel and former ministers are also among those affected.
Inflite The Jet Centre said it believed the breach was confined to email accounts only and confirmed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had been notified.
The handling of the data has been condemned by campaigners. Professor Sara de Jong from the Sulha Alliance charity described the incident as “astonishing”.
“The last thing that Afghans, who saved British lives, need is more worries about their own and their families’ lives,” she said, urging the MoD to accelerate pending relocation cases.
The issue deepened after BBC’s Newsnight reported that a former member of Afghanistan’s elite “Triples” special forces, caught up in the 2022 MoD breach, had been deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan on Friday.
His son, who avoided arrest and spoke to the BBC, pleaded with the British government: “Please help my family and avoid their murder by the Taliban.”
In response, the MoD said it was “honouring commitments” to all eligible applicants but stressed that strict checks were in place.
“As the public would rightly expect, anyone coming to the UK must pass strict security and entry checks before being able to relocate to the UK. In some cases people do not pass these checks,” a statement said.
The government is now under pressure from across the political spectrum. Former national security adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant labelled the breaches “deeply embarrassing” and urged ministers to act faster to protect Afghans at risk. Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng called the leaks “very serious” and “really concerning”.
Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson Helen Maguire went further, accusing the government of “staggering incompetence and clearly inadequate security standards,” while demanding an “immediate, fully independent investigation”.
For Afghans who risked everything to support British troops, these repeated failures have left them exposed once more. With the Taliban still targeting former allies, the stakes could not be higher.