- A Ministry of Defence official inadvertently leaked a spreadsheet in February 2022 containing sensitive data of up to 100,000 Afghans seeking sanctuary in the UK.
- The data breach, which included names, contact details, and case statuses of applicants to the Afghan resettlement scheme, put thousands of lives at risk from the Taliban.
- Despite the catastrophic nature of the leak, the official responsible has not been fired and remains employed by the government, though not in the same role.
- An unprecedented superinjunction, lasting almost two years, was imposed in September 2023 to prevent news of the leak from being published, which has now been lifted.
- The incident prompted the secret evacuation of thousands of Afghans to Britain under a new resettlement scheme, with calls for an in-depth inquiry into the matter.
IN FULL