A catastrophic Ministry of Defence data breach that exposed the details of thousands of Afghans seeking refuge in the UK was kept secret for nearly two years under an unprecedented superinjunction, The Independent has revealed.
The leak, which occurred in February 2022, compromised sensitive information about applicants to the MoD’s Arap resettlement scheme – a programme for Afghans who had supported British forces and now feared Taliban reprisals.
Officials launched a top-secret response, codenamed Operation Rubific, resulting in the covert evacuation of more than 16,000 people to the UK. The government was prepared to relocate up to 42,000 in total at a projected cost of £7bn.
The extraordinary cover-up meant MPs, the public and even many within Whitehall were kept in the dark.
A court battle led by The Independent and other media finally overturned the superinjunction this week, raising serious questions about transparency, accountability, and the treatment of those who risked their lives for Britain.
Reactions from readers have been swift and damning, touching on moral responsibility, government secrecy, institutional incompetence, and the human cost of this breach.
Many drew parallels with past scandals, while others demanded consequences and urgent reform.
Here’s what you had to say:
Britain has a moral responsibility
It is an expensive programme, that is true, but the problem is a very big one. The whole thing was bungled from the start – remember Dominic Raab staying on his holiday in Crete while Kabul was being evacuated? And the nature of the leak is just incredible.
The billions this costs, spread out over several years, are desperately needed elsewhere, but as with the Gurkhas, Britain has a moral responsibility.
RegCostello
This story has shocked many – what’s your reaction? Add your voice in the comments.
(i) ‘Prioritisation of Ukrainian nationals’ and (ii) ‘drastically increased work-from-home arrangements for civil servants’ were the main reasons given for the months-long consular waits for visas and passport processing in 2022 and 2023.
I wonder whether this massive evacuation from Afghanistan contributed to that strain, or whether it was all managed by a separate–and–covert department. Either way, covert or not, every resource has its limit, doesn’t it?
Ever more freely and transparently may truths emerge!
IndySpannerPhones
Many are still in danger
Hopefully the Labour government will quickly step up the process of getting all to safety. It’s been over a year, but many are still in danger.
The government needs to ensure that 10 per cent of evacuees do not end up homeless, as they suggested could be the case in October 2024.
PropagandaoftheDeed
A national shame
The way we treated these people who helped us at great risk is a national shame.
Albert Ginwallah
Corruption or shambles?
Hmmm… so Britain’s security is more at risk from the government and MoD! Well, I for one am not surprised at all. And that goes for the cover-up and lies from successive governments! Look at the Post Office and Horizon, the blood contamination saga. Is it corruption or a shambles?
Red Dragon
Has the person been sacked?
My first question is: has the person who sent the email been sacked and prosecuted for breaching confidentiality as well as costing the country some £400m?
If not, why not?
TomHawk
Spare a thought for Afghan women
This was a chaotic Tory mess-up, as is traditional.
Against the scale of the issue, this ethical UK response is tiny. Spare a thought for the 450k Afghan refugee women forcibly repatriated from Iran and Pakistan since Jan 2025, who are instantly criminalised for travelling alone back to a medieval regime where women and girls have a value less than livestock.
Herbacious
Scandal after scandal
Is there anything the UK government can run?
Scandal after scandal after scandal. Billions upon billions p***** up the wall. A little bridge in a London park, £36 million?
Chichee
Let’s have an expensive public inquiry
Wow – a government cover-up. That’s a surprise.
Let’s have an expensive public inquiry at the cost to us taxpayers that will last the next five years, with the familiar outcome stating lessons will be learnt…
Once that’s out of the way, we can then promote the ‘guilty’ individuals to the House of Lords.
theSpycatcher
A get-out clause
A “superinjunction” is basically the get-out clause for despotic governments (or in the case of Britain, the rancid ruling class).
stonia
Keeping the public in the dark
How ironic that the British establishment invests huge efforts in keeping the public in the dark about so many things of public interest – and yet is incapable of protecting sensitive data when lives actually depend on it.
Danilov
Data like this should never leave a secure government server. What on earth is it doing being emailed to random people and posted on Facebook?
And how do you “inadvertently share” a file?
sj99
Incompetence should have consequences
Incompetence on such a massive scale should have consequences; otherwise, it sends the wrong message. It says: don’t worry about being diligent, do what you like, it doesn’t matter.
Sean
As if the data breach itself wasn’t appalling enough, the fact that this individual is still employed in another department at the MoD is absolutely shameful.
Cyclone8
Only in the UK public sector…
Where else but the UK public sector can someone do something that puts people’s lives at risk and costs £400m to sort out, yet keep your job and your pension?
If there is any better illustration of how we are let down by our public sector, I can’t think of it.
These days, our public sector is the refuge of those who should not be let loose with a broom, let alone handle sensitive matters.
TomHawk
We are failing to protect those we put at risk
Bloody shambles. We should have offered sanctuary to those who were at risk just because of who their former employer was – the MoD. While the news and politics are all about ‘illegal immigrants, ’ we are failing to protect those we put at risk. Shameful.
Snaughter
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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