Thousands of Afghans put at risk by MoD data breach still stranded and many ‘in danger’ months on
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Thousands of Afghans who were put at risk after their data was leaked by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a catastrophic blunder are still waiting to be brought to safety in the UK, more than six months after the scandal, The Independent can reveal.
Around 400 people who supported British efforts in Afghanistan and later had their personal information breached by the UK government have been left “trapped” in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries, struggling to get out.
Some 1,900 of their family members have also been left in limbo. One Afghan analyst urged the government to “redouble its efforts” to get the final families out, saying hundreds still “live in real danger of reprisals from the Taliban”.
The latest figures, from December 2025, obtained through freedom of information requests, show how UK evacuations are “working far too slowly when people’s lives are threatened”, campaigners said.
Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tan Dhesi said that while bringing people from Afghanistan to the UK is not straightforward, “every month counts”. “Time is obviously of the essence for Afghans entitled to resettlement in the UK who remain in Afghanistan”, he added.
The MoD said that it is committed to getting people out of Afghanistan and that the data breach did not put people at increased risk.
Some 18,700 applicants to the government’s Afghan resettlement schemes had their personal details and contact information leaked by an MoD blunder in 2022, which was only discovered in the summer of 2023 after a portion of a spreadsheet was shared on social media.
The discovery of the mistake sparked one of the most extraordinary secret government operations in modern history over fears that up to 100,000 lives were in danger. An unprecedented gagging order was used to cover up the breach, with affected families only discovering the danger they had potentially been put in when the superinjunction was lifted in July last year.
When the MoD’s data loss was revealed, officials said they still needed to evacuate around 600 Afghans, along with 2,400 family members, who were eligible to come to the UK due to their work for the British and the data breach.
A further 2,400, eligible because of the data loss, were also yet to be evacuated as of last July. Officials have said that these estimates are not directly comparable with the numbers released to The Independent under FOI because they are calculated differently.
Defence secretary John Healey said in July last year that “we will honour the 600 invitations already made to any named person still in Afghanistan and their immediate family”, adding: “When this nation makes a promise, we should keep it.”
However, campaigners and Afghans in the UK warn that these families do not have the financial resources to pay for necessary visas and transport to get out of the Taliban-run country. An independent caseworker, known as Person A, who alerted the government to the MoD data breach in the summer of 2023, said the UK government had withdrawn evacuation support for the Afghan families, leaving them “trapped”.
One former Afghan soldier, brought to the UK under the MoD’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), said his brother and family were approved for relocation more than a year ago but have been unable to escape Afghanistan. The former special forces commando said: “My brother is in a bad financial situation as he is not able to work under the Taliban government. I am angry because my brother was one of the most eligible people to come to the UK. He was injured during his service to the British forces; others who are not soldiers have got into the UK, while those like my brother have been left behind.
“I am grateful for the help and support that I have received for myself, but my brother is in a dire situation and I cannot do anything for him. His and his family’s life is in danger.”
