Latest news with #asylum applicants
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Watch: MoD ‘error' put thousands of Afghans at risk, admits defence secretary
Defence Secretary John Healey has admitted a 'serious departmental error' by the Ministry of Defence. A spreadsheet containing details of 25,000 Afghan asylum applicants, MPs, and senior military officers was mistakenly sent out in February 2022. The incident put hundreds of thousands of Afghans at risk and was a 'clear breach of strict data protocols', Mr Healey said. Following the breach, a relocation scheme for over 16,000 Afghans was implemented at a cost of £6 billion, with details released only after a superinjunction was lifted. Watch the video in full above.
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Defence Secretary admits MoD ‘serious departmental error' put thousands of Afghans at risk
Defence secretary John Healey has admitted a 'serious departmental error' within the Ministry of Defence put hundreds of thousands of Afghans at risk. Speaking to MPs in parliament on Tuesday (15 July), Mr Healey revealed that a leaked spreadsheet which contained the details of 25,000 Afghan asylum applicants, as well as MPs and senior military officers, was mistakenly sent out in February 2022. He said: 'This was a serious departmental error. It was in clear breach of strict data protocols.' Details of a relocation scheme following the breach which involved over 16,000 Afghans at a cost of £6billion were released today after the lifting of a superinjunction.
