The British government may be forced to accept up to 100,000 Afghans, following a legal challenge by lawyers. They will attempt to show that the Afghans rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) have been breached because they are in danger of reprisals from the Taliban.
A planned judicial review will try to prove that the Ministry of Defence’s argument – as expressed in the Rimmer report – for closing the resettlement scheme for affected Afghans is false. It will claim that people whose names were leaked now face a threat to their human rights under article 2 and article 3 of the ECHR. The articles give claimants a right to life and a right to freedom from degrading treatment or punishment.
Lawyers could argue these rights are now at risk from the Taliban, following the leak of their identities.
Sean Humber, a partner at the firm Leigh Day, told The Telegraph: “We are looking at possible legal avenues for judicial challenge for people who have been denied relocation and are now finding themselves on the list. They are now at an increased risk. As well as the compensation, it’s a case of whether the Government should now take action.”
A government spreadsheet containing the names of 25,000 Afghans was accidentally leaked by a Royal Marine in February 2022. The Afghans had applied to resettle in the UK, due to the fact they had worked with the British Army during military operations ion the country.
However, ministers have conceded that the total number could rise to between 80,000 and 100,000, when families and other dependents are included.
Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have since been brought to Britain or are in transit under the program known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million.
Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to £850 million.
They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. The details of more than 100 Britons, including spies and special forces personnel were also revealed in the leak.
The leak was only revealed to the public earlier this week after a news blackout imposed by the previous Conservative government was finally lifted.