The small print of an enormous knowledge breach by the British navy over Afghan nationals have come out this week. However behind the scenes, the fallout has been ongoing for years.
The scheme was to offer asylum for individuals who had labored with the UK armed forces within the conflict in opposition to the Taliban between 2001 and 2021.
The blunder was solely made public on Tuesday after a super-injunction blocking the media from reporting on the breach was eliminated.
It’s solely now that the timeline of the information breach, a subsequent secret authorities scheme and the super-injunction can all be revealed.
Right here’s what the general public couldn’t know till now:
April 2021
The Preliminary scheme to relocate Afghans who helped British navy in the course of the conflict is launched. It was referred to as the Afghan Relocations and Help Coverage (ARAP).
February 2022
14 August 2023
UK officers ship round 1,800 ARAP candidates in Pakistan a warning by way of WhatsApp to say their knowledge might have been breached.
15 August 2023
James Heappey, then armed forces minister, is warned by a civilian volunteer who assists ARAP candidates that the breach might have put these on the listing and their households in grave hazard.
The volunteer says: “The Taliban might nicely now have a 33,000-long kill listing – basically offered to them by the UK authorities.
“If any of these families are murdered, the government will be liable.”
25 August 2023
Then defence secretary Ben Wallace applies for a court docket order after the MoD will get two inquiries concerning the breach from journalists.
1 September 2023
Excessive Courtroom grants a super-injunction till a listening to scheduled for 1 December, stopping the reporting of the breach, because the MoD stated the federal government wanted 4 months to “do everything it reasonably can to help those who might have been put at further risk”.
23 November 2023
Excessive Courtroom decide Mr Justice Chamberlain provides personal judgment saying the super-injunction is “is likely to give rise to understandable suspicion that the court’s processes are being used for the purposes of censorship”.
However he continues it for 4 extra weeks, because the MoD has reiterated that the risk to these within the dataset is “grave”.
18 December 2023
MoD attorneys say the danger to life as a result of breach is “immensely serious”. Mr Justice Chamberlain extends the super-injunction till February 2024.
19 December 2024
The Home and Financial Affairs committee meets and says {that a} new route of settlement within the UK ought to be provided to some people who had been ineligible for ARAP.
Presently, it’s agreed to be a focused cohort of round 200 individuals and their dependents on the highest threat following the breach, and it’s referred to as the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR).
The ARR can also be coated by the super-injunction.
15 February 2024
Mr Justice Chamberlain continues the super-injunction, discovering a “real possibility that it is serving to protect” a few of these recognized on the dataset.
However he provides: “What is clear is that the government has decided to offer help to only a very small proportion of those whose lives have been endangered by the data incident and that the decisions in this regard are being taken without any opportunity for scrutiny through the media or in Parliament.”
21 Might 2024
Mr Justice Chamberlain guidelines the super-injunction ought to be lifted in 21 days, saying there’s a “significant possibility” the Taliban already know concerning the dataset and that it’s “fundamentally objectionable” to maintain it a secret.
25-26 June 2024
The MoD challenges the choice within the Courtroom of Attraction, which guidelines that the super-injunction ought to proceed for the security of these affected by the breach.
In a written ruling, judges Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Singh and Lord Justice Warby say: “As the number of family members involved is several times the number of affected people, the total numbers of people who would be exposed to a risk of death or serious harm if the Taliban obtained the data is between 80,000 and 100,000.”
4 July 2024
Labour wins the overall election, and Sir Keir Starmer’s authorities inherits the scheme. It retains the super-injunction in place.
2 February 2025
A evaluate into the information incident response reveals that the ARR’s plans would imply relocating extra Afghan nationals than the unique scheme, and would find yourself costing as much as £7bn.
It recommends that the defence secretary order an impartial evaluate into the breach and subsequent scheme.
19 Might 2025
The Excessive Courtroom is informed by a Manchester-based regulation agency that it has greater than 600 potential shoppers who might sue the federal government beneath knowledge safety legal guidelines.
4 July 2025
After an impartial evaluate by retired civil servant Paul Rimmer, the federal government tells the Excessive Courtroom that the super-injunction “should no longer continue”.
It comes after the evaluate discovered the breach was “unlikely to profoundly change the existing risk profile” of these named and that the federal government probably “inadvertently added more value to the dataset” by searching for the unprecedented super-injunction.
15 July 2025
Mr Justice Chamberlain lifts the super-injunction, making the breach and scheme reportable for the primary time.
It’s revealed that almost 7,000 Afghan nationals both have been or are being relocated to the UK as a part of the breach response scheme, with the MoD saying it’ll price round £850m.
It stated the inner authorities doc from February which stated the associated fee might rise to £7bn was outdated as a result of the federal government had reduce the variety of Afghans it could be relocating.
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7:31
Minister defends dealing with of breach
What occurs now?
Some 5,400 Afghans who’ve already acquired invitation letters can be flown to the UK within the coming weeks. This can convey the full variety of Afghans affected by the breach being relocated to the UK to 23,900.
The remainder of the affected Afghans can be left behind, The Occasions reported.
Round 1,000 Afghans on the leaked listing are getting ready to sue the MoD, demanding no less than £50,000 every, in a joint motion led by Barings Legislation.
Adnan Malik, head of information safety at Barings Legislation, stated: “This is an incredibly serious data breach, which the Ministry of Defence has repeatedly tried to hide from the British public.”
Regardless of the federal government’s inner evaluate taking part in down the dangers brought on by the information breach, Mr Malik stated the claimants “continue to live with the fear of reprisal against them and their families”.
The Telegraph has reported {that a} Whitehall briefing notice circulated on 4 July warned that the MoD would want to work with the federal government to arrange to “mitigate any risk of public disorder following the discharge of the injunction”.
