Thousands of Afghans on a list of people attempting to escape the Taliban are set to be denied compensation following an accidental data leak. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) declared it will “robustly defend” against anticipated legal action for damages, insisting it is “highly unlikely” that those named in the leaked document were subsequently targeted.
It also ruled out proactively providing compensation payments to victims of the security breach. Details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme were exposed, and up to 100,000 Afghans were put at risk of Taliban retaliation. The 2022 leak cost British taxpayers billions of pounds and triggered a two-year cover-up involving an unprecedented superinjunction.
It also led to the covert programme the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), which was designed to relocate some affected individuals to the UK.
However, an MoD spokesman referenced an independent investigation which concluded there is now minimal risk that being included on the leaked document would be enough grounds for Taliban targeting.
Hundreds of data protection claims are anticipated, with the High Court hearing this week that a Manchester law firm already represents several hundred potential claimants.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard disclosed that the MoD will pay out £1.6m in compensation for a separate incident that led to the accidental release of Afghan nationals’ data.
Mr Pollard said the MoD would compensate each of the 265 individuals affected by the email blunder in September 2021 with up to £4,000.
This error also resulted in the government being slapped with a £350,000 fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
However, the ICO has decided against taking any additional action regarding the more extensive breach in 2022.
Information Commissioner John Edwards said there was “little we could add in this case” due to the “high degree of public scrutiny” already directed at the MoD.
The Government anticipates that a total of 6,900 people will be relocated to the UK under the ARR scheme, with associated costs expected to hit £850m.
The breach not only exposed the details of Afghan nationals but also compromised the personal information of over 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6.