A major British government cover‑up has emerged after revelations that nearly 24,000 Afghans were quietly brought to the UK under a secretive resettlement scheme funded by a £7 billion budget. A super‑injunction imposed by the government from September 2023 until July 2025 prevented media and Parliament from disclosing the operation. The covert plan was initiated after a Ministry of Defence (MoD) data leak exposed up to 100,000 Afghans who had worked with British forces—raising fears the Taliban could target them for reprisals.
In early 2022, a British military official mistakenly sent a spreadsheet of sensitive personal information—covering up to 33,000 individuals—to recipients in Afghanistan. This breach included names, emails, phone numbers, and family details, and could have endangered tens of thousands. The leak only appeared in 2023 when parts of the data were posted online.
Facing the risk of Taliban retribution, the Conservative government, later joined by the Labour administration, funded Operation Rubific. Over two years, approximately 18,500 Afghans were relocated under the covert scheme—24,000 including those scheduled to arrive soon—and were housed at military bases and private hotels.
The High Court super‑injunction, the first issued by the government and the longest of its kind, criminalized any mention of the operation or its existence. MPs, media outlets, and the public were kept in the dark until the order’s expiration in July 2025.
Defence Secretary John Healey has since publicly apologized and closed the secret route. He acknowledged being “deeply uncomfortable” with the lack of transparency and pledged reforms while closing the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR).
An internal review in 2025, led by retired civil servant Paul Rimmer, concluded that although the Taliban might already possess much of the information, the super‑injunction and covert resettlement likely increased the risk by creating new targets and suppressing democratic oversight.
Legal consequences are unfolding as over 665 Afghans plan to sue the MoD for compensation, and a separate claim by 1,000 individuals is already underway. Meanwhile, the Information Commissioner’s Office stated no further regulatory action is needed, though it criticized the breach’s severity.
