Lancaster Afghans fear for the safety of their families following Ministry of Defence data breach
Afghans who have made a new life in Lancaster after being resettled under the government’s relocation scheme are now fearing for the safety of their families after a data breach was revealed.
A Ministry of Defence data breach compromised the safety of tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked for the British Army in the decades long fight against the Taliban which ended abruptly in 2021.
Afghans who arrived in Lancaster under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme prior to 2022 received an email informing them that their personal data had been leaked, including the names and addresses of their families still in Afghanistan.
Ali [name changed] was an officer in the British Army, having trained at the Military Academy of Sandhurst, and was involved in the chaotic evacuation of Kabul in the days when the Taliban took control.
He, his wife and children, were re-located to the UK under the ARAP resettlement scheme for Afghans who were at risk of being killed by the Taliban for working for the British.
He now works full-time, runs his own business and is completing a Masters degree.
He applied to the Ministry of Defence to bring his mother and brother from Afghanistan in 2022 but their relocation application was refused.
Ali said: "This is a very stressful time for thousands of Afghans. Many people have already been killed by the Taliban in recent years.
"Since yesterday, my mother and brother are now in hiding in Afghanistan, fearing for their lives. I am begging the Ministry of Defence to bring them to the UK where they can live with me, and I can look after them, including financially.”
It is not only Afghans who worked for the British Army who are at risk of being killed by the Taliban.
Mahmoud [not his real name] was a soldier in the Afghan army which fought alongside British and western forces against the Taliban for years.
One day, whilst praying in the mosque on the Afghan army base the Taliban entered and murdered almost 500 Afghan soldiers.
Mahmoud survived by hiding under dead bodies. After the Taliban shot his brother mistaking him for Mahmoud, he fled, ultimately to the UK, crossing the Channel in a small boat because there is no legal way for most refugees to enter the UK to seek asylum.
He is now waiting for the Home Office decision on his case and says that he would rather die in the UK than be killed by the Taliban.
Gisela Renolds, director of Lancaster education charity Global Link, which has supported the resettlement of Afghans locally, said: “This careless data breach has reignited the trauma of thousands of people and put many people on the Taliban murder list. The Taliban’s brutality knows no bounds.
"The UK Government must now rectify its mistake by finding ways to get all those people whose lives they have endangered to safety in other countries, including in the UK.”
Global Link supports the integration and resettlement of asylum seekers and refugees in the Lancaster district, including six families who came through the ARAP resettlement programme.