Afghan ‘Blackmail’ Revelation Rocks MoD After Super-Injunction Lifted

A recently lifted super-injunction has revealed that an Afghan national reportedly secured resettlement in the UK by posting sensitive details from a massive Ministry of Defence (MoD) data breach on Facebook. The individual, who had a previously rejected application, allegedly used the leaked information as leverage, prompting the MoD to offer an expedited review of his case. Government sources have controversially accused the man of “blackmailing his way into the country.”

The scandal originates from a February 2022 incident where a UK Special Forces (UKSF) official accidentally emailed personal data of nearly 19,000 Afghan resettlement applicants to an unauthorized recipient. After his own application was rejected, one Afghan national posted nine names from this dataset online, threatening to release more. In response, British authorities tracked him down, requested the data be removed, and offered to fast-track his rejected application. He is now reportedly in the UK and is not believed to be facing criminal charges.

Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer described the incident as indicative of the “chaos” within the relocation process, stating the individual “essentially bribed the MoD to get in the country.” The extensive data breach also led to the creation of a secret £850 million emergency resettlement scheme, known as the Afghanistan Response Route, which has brought approximately 4,500 Afghans to the UK since April 2024 and is now slated for closure.

Defence Secretary John Healey has issued a “sincere apology” for the “serious departmental error,” acknowledging it was “highly unlikely” an individual would be targeted solely due to the breach. However, he admitted he was “unable to say for sure” that no Afghans were killed as a result. A High Court judgment made public this week stated it was “quite possible” Taliban infiltrators saw parts of the leaked document. Lawyers representing affected Afghans have condemned the breach as a “catastrophic failure” to protect an extremely vulnerable group of individuals.

阅读中文版 (Read Chinese Version)

Disclaimer: This content is aggregated from public sources online. Please verify information independently. If you believe your rights have been infringed, contact us for removal.