The headline figures are eye-watering. Up to 100,000 Afghans could have been placed at risk after a British soldier, according to the Times, sent the names of 33,000 people who supported British forces to a contact he hoped would help verify their applications for sanctuary in this country. The story behind these numbers is one of real people who had already been living in fear for years, and who have been treated abhorrently by the British state.
As soon as it became clear that the information could fall into the Taliban’s hands and lead to these people and those close to them being targeted, the highly secret Operation Rubific was launched. This debacle occurred under the previous Conservative government, which obtained a superinjunction preventing several media organisations that were aware of the leak from reporting on it.
The current government commissioned an independent review ordered by the defence secretary, John Healey, into the level of risk to those whose details are contained in the leaked database. It was carried out by the retired civil servant Paul Rimmer. He concluded that if the Taliban has acquired or does acquire this database it is unlikely to substantially change an individual’s exposure, given the volume of data already available.
Today at noon, the superinjunction was lifted. This conclusion raises questions about why it was allowed to continue for so long.
Until now the Afghans affected, reportedly 24,000 of whom have already been brought to the UK or will come in the future, were not aware of the full facts. Many more on the database remain in Afghanistan or in a precarious situation in neighbouring countries. Many who fled to Pakistan and Iran have been rounded up and sent back to Afghanistan, where they live in daily fear of being targeted by the Taliban, whether or not their names are on the leaked database.
Immigration lawyers with Afghan clients had not been informed about the leak and were puzzled about why some of their clients who were seeking asylum in the UK were granted leave to remain outside the rules. Today it has become apparent why this happened: the government knew more than it was letting on about the very real level of risk some of these Afghans were exposed to.
But much still remains unknown about today’s revelations – exactly who is affected, what is the likely risk to them and their families, and whether or not this information is already known to the Taliban.
It isn’t the first time personal data relating to Afghans who worked with overseas forces in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover in August 2021 has leaked. One interpreter airlifted to the UK with his family soon after the takeover started receiving threatening messages from the Taliban on his Afghan number – he had brought his Afghan sim card with him for ease of communication with family members who remained in hiding.
“It was terrifying to wake up in the morning, put my Afghan sim into my phone to pick up family messages and hear these threatening messages from the Taliban saying they knew where I was living in London and that my family and I were in danger,” he said.
Rimmer’s findings are likely to give little comfort to the tens of thousands of Afghans who put their trust in British and American forces and worked with them for many years. Many were already living in fear. Not knowing whether or not their names are being viewed by the Taliban can only compound that feeling.
Today the focus is rightly on the disclosure of the gigantic leak, but this bigger issue has been affecting many Afghans since the fall of the Taliban and will continue to affect them for many years to come. While responsibility to protect Afghans who put their trust in overseas governments does not lie with the UK alone, and should be shared equally between the countries that pulled out in August 2021, the truth is that many lives are now at greater risk because of the countries that hastily and chaotically abandoned Afghanistan.
It is no coincidence that in 2023 and 2024, Afghanistan was the top country of origin for people who had crossed the Channel in small boats. For them, the dinghy is the last-chance saloon when they have no other option to reach safety. Many want to come to the UK for the same reason British officials in Afghanistan sought them out: because they speak excellent or perfect English. But we have shut them out of the legal routes to arrive here, which are all now closed.
Jamie Bell of Duncan Lewis solicitors, who has represented many Afghans, told me: “Not only did the government’s Afghan schemes not help who they were supposed to help, but administrative incompetence appears to have potentially put thousands at risk from the Taliban. This is a further betrayal of so many who were integral to western efforts in Afghanistan who have already been forced to wait years for a lawful relocation decision.”
Today’s disclosures are an as-yet unquantifiable failure to Afghans who assisted us. But it is not the only failure. They will continue to try to reach the UK by irregular means because we have failed to protect them. While it is welcome that 24,000 people have been brought here, or are due to come here, many more are still living in danger. There is no sign of that changing any time soon.
Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil liberties
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