According to the BBC on the 19th, the identity of over 100 British officials, including members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and MI6, as well as the personal information of more than 19,000 Afghans who have cooperated with the UK government, were leaked. This led to a significant number of individuals involved in the matter being at risk of retaliation. In an attempt to cover up the leak, the then-government had requested a court order to ban reporting.
Comprehensive reports from various British media outlets indicate that the leak occurred in February 2022. An employee at the headquarters of the UK’s Special Forces mistakenly shared details about a group of Afghan refugees seeking asylum with governmental outsiders, containing detailed personal information about approximately 19,000 Afghan applicants. In August 2023, after some content was posted on social media platform “Facebook” and hinting that he could release the rest of the information, the UK government became aware of the leak.
On the 17th, according to media reports by BBC and others, besides the affected Afghans, the list of leaked names also included those of their sponsors in the UK, including SAS and MI6 members. The British media reported that this is the most severe breach of confidentiality involving British government personnel since Tomlinson, a former MI6 officer, published the names of dozens of MI6 officials online in 1999. For MI6 agents, the publicization of their names and personal information could directly end their careers; for active and retired members of the Special Forces, due to their involvement in assassinations and other operations, the leak could pose a life-threatening risk.
This incident has been protected by a “super-ban” from the UK courts for 18 months until July 15 and 17 this year when judges successively lifted the related reporting bans, allowing the media to learn about it. To conceal this scandal, the then-government secretly established the “Afghan Response Channel (ARR)” last year to accommodate the affected individuals, spending at least £2 billion so far to assist 4,500 Afghans and their families in moving to the UK, with an estimated 2,400 more expected to receive assistance.
John Hill, the UK Defense Secretary, apologized on the 15th regarding this matter, stating that it should not have happened and hinting that it was related to the previous government. According to The Times, Hill was furious over the leak. Roger Walker, the Chief of the Army Staff, has ordered an investigation.