The UK government spent £2.4 million in legal fees attempting to conceal a catastrophic Ministry of Defence data breach for nearly two years, using an unprecedented superinjunction to block public disclosure.
The breach, which occurred in February 2022, exposed the personal details of thousands of Afghans who had assisted British forces and were at risk from the Taliban. Many of those affected were seeking relocation to the United Kingdom for safety.
The incident only came to light in August 2023 when part of the leaked database appeared online. This triggered a top-secret operation that brought 16,000 Afghans to safety in Britain. The entire operation was kept hidden from the public under a superinjunction issued contramundum, meaning against the world.
Freedom of information disclosures obtained by The New York Times have revealed that the government spent £2.4 million in legal costs defending the secrecy of the scheme. The breach, the covert resettlement operation, and the existence of the injunction itself only became public after a prolonged legal battle in which several media outlets, including The Independent, successfully challenged the order.
The Ministry of Defence later admitted that key information which could have led to the order being lifted was already in its possession last year.
A review commissioned by Defence Secretary John Healey concluded that the threat posed to those named in the leak was not as severe as initially claimed. The superinjunction was ultimately lifted in July 2024, following an earlier High Court ruling by Mr Justice Chamberlain in May.
The judge had determined that maintaining the order prevented the 18,700 affected Afghans from taking steps to protect themselves, as they were not informed their data had been compromised. Despite this, the government appealed in an attempt to keep the gagging order in place.
Those affected only learned of the breach when the injunction was removed. The revelation of the legal costs comes as Afghans promised relocation to the UK face detention in Pakistan during police raids.
Among them is a former interpreter exposed in the leak, whose relocation offer was withdrawn, and a former Afghan special forces commando detained with his family and taken to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
