UK defence committee finds MoD data breach of Afghan resettlement applicants was foreseeable failure
A parliamentary inquiry concluded that the Ministry of Defence's handling of the Afghan relocation scheme lacked expertise and resulted in a systemic data breach, which was concealed by a prolonged super-injunction.
A Commons Defence Committee report released Thursday said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed to protect personal data of more than 18,500 Afghan applicants to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, describing the incident as a "foreseeable systemic failure". The breach, first identified in August 2023, involved a MoD staff member sharing a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with a "trusted third party" and remained undisclosed until a super-injunction was lifted in July 2025.
The committee criticised the MoD for lacking the expertise to run an immigration-related programme and for using secrecy to avoid accountability. It also highlighted that the breach was one of 19 data incidents reported between February 2022 and November 2023.
"The Ministry of Defence should stick to defence – it should never have been left to run immigration casework schemes," committee chairman Tan Dhesi said.
"Secrecy has been too easily used as a shield against proper accountability in areas far removed from sensitive operations," Dhesi added.
A MoD spokesperson said the leak "should never have happened" and welcomed the chance to learn from the incident. The report also questioned the government's policy of not commenting on special forces matters, noting that UK Special Forces (UKSF) involvement in the scheme should not prevent parliamentary or public scrutiny.
The inquiry found that the use of Excel reflected a "continuing cultural failure" and that the overall Arap programme was "utterly and obviously inadequate". It noted that the super-injunction, originally expected to last four months, remained in force for almost two years, limiting accountability and public trust.
The committee also raised concerns about the handling of Afghan special forces applicants, citing BBC investigations that revealed a de-facto veto by British special forces over many resettlement requests. While the committee could not confirm the exact role of UKSF due to government non-disclosure policies, it highlighted the serious consequences for applicants whose cases were rejected.
The Arap scheme closed to new applications in July 2025, but the report urged the government to address the ongoing responsibility to Afghan special forces who were wrongly denied entry and remain at risk.