The British government hid a billion dollar plan to rescue Afghans who assisted its troops after a data leak exposed them to Taliban retaliation.

A spreadsheet containing the personal information of about 18,700 Afghans and their relatives – a total of about 33,000 people – was accidentally forwarded to the wrong recipients by email in February 2022, Healey told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

The Taliban government said on Thursday it had not arrested or monitored Afghans involved in a secret British resettlement plan after a data breach was revealed this week. Thousands of Afghans who worked with the United Kingdom were brought to Britain with their families in a secret programme after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk,

As the mood fouls over immigration policy, British officials bicker over the decision to allow thousands of Afghans who had not qualified for asylum

The United Kingdom set up a secret plan to resettle thousands of Afghan people in Britain after an official accidentally disclosed the personal details of more than 33,000 people, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban, court documents showed.

So far, 4,500 Afghans have come to the U.K. as part of the program. An additional 600, along with their immediate families, are set to arrive soon. The secret plan has cost £400m so far, and the Ministry of Defense is projecting a further cost of £400m to £450m. In U.S. dollars, this program will cost more than $1 billion.

Manchester-based law firm Brings Legal stated it has already registered nearly 1,000 Afghan ARAP applicants for potential legal proceedings. These individuals were part of a UK government initiative to resettle Afghans who had worked alongside British forces and were at risk after the Taliban’s return to power.

The U.K. government secretly resettled thousands of Afghans into the country following a data leak that reportedly jeopardized the lives of local allies.

Thousands of Afghans who worked for the British government were brought to the United Kingdom along with their families under a secret relocation scheme, after a major data breach in 2022 put them at risk of reprisals by the Taliban.