Thousands of Afghans who were relocated to the UK under a government resettlement scheme have had their personal details exposed following a cyber-attack on a Ministry of Defence (MoD) sub-contractor.
Up to 3,700 Afghans may have been affected after Inflite The Jet Centre, which handles flights at London Stansted Airport, reported unauthorised access to its email accounts. Information potentially exposed included names, passport numbers, dates of birth, and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) reference details. Some British military personnel and former ministers were also among those notified.
The MoD said the incident did not compromise government systems or pose a direct threat to individuals’ safety, and there was no evidence that the data had been released publicly. Affected families, many of whom travelled to the UK between January and March 2024, were informed by email.
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Inflite said the breach was limited to email accounts and confirmed it had reported the case to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The incident has raised alarm among campaigners. Professor Sara de Jong of the Sulha Alliance, a group supporting Afghans who worked with UK forces, described the breach as “astonishing” and urged the government to speed up pending relocation cases.
This marks the second significant data lapse linked to Afghan resettlement. In 2022, the details of nearly 19,000 Afghans seeking to flee the Taliban were mistakenly leaked, leading to secret relocations for many who faced threats.
Critics, including former UK national security adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant, called the latest breach “deeply embarrassing” for the government. He stressed that while security checks remain important, Britain must act faster to protect those at risk of persecution if forced back to Afghanistan.