The casual cruelty of the MoD’s Afghanistan cover-up is now clear for all to see

TeaThe latest report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a scathing indictment of the Ministry of Defence’s handling of the resettlement of Afghan nationals who served the UK in various capacities during the long “war on terrorism” that ended with some disarray in August 2021.

Despite long efforts – successful for some time – to conceal Shocking and extremely costly incompetence on the part of officials at all levels.The truth about the scale of the mess finally came out a few months ago when an ordinance was lifted.

This would not have been possible without the efforts of Independent And other media organizations must act in the public interest and, even under publication bans, continue to investigate the slow response and persistent data breaches, which must be considered one of the most serious failures in public administration so far this century.

The bravery and dedication of Britain’s armed forces, and allies such as those who died with them In Helmand province and other gruesome, dusty battlefields, they have not been matched by the people who should be supporting them.

Even political reluctance to “do the right thing” Return Afghan forces at risk of torture and execution It was clear that Kabul was in the hands of the Taliban from the very first day after the hasty evacuation.

This was highlighted by IndependentSuccessful campaign to secure asylum in Britain For an Afghan pilot and his familyHowever, many remain in hiding in their homeland, stranded in Pakistan (with the constant threat of deportation leading to their death), and trying to reach Britain or cross the English Channel. The treatment of “Triples” – Afghan special forces named after their numerical regimental designation – has been particularly shameful.

However, as Pac explains in excruciating detail, it was all made much worse A series of data breaches This continued to happen even as the Ministry of Defense (MoD) continually tried to strengthen measures to stop them. The largest and now most infamous incident occurred (and was kept secret) in February 2022, when a spreadsheet containing 33,000 lines of personal data was emailed to someone outside the government.

The accidental leak was discovered in August 2023, when parts of the database appeared in a Facebook group that exposed vulnerable people at high risk of being stalked by the Taliban. It was this breach that prompted the government to take an unprecedented superinjunction to stop reporting.

It also launched a massive secret evacuation program for thousands of people. Virtually all of them had no legitimate case for protection from persecution by the Taliban before the leak; However, after this his claim could not be denied. (One of the many consequences was that the incident proceeded as weakened the entire concept of refugee status in the public mind,

If the initial response – to prevent further dissemination of sensitive, life-and-death data – might have been justified, the attempt to extend it indefinitely, as the PAC says, was inexcusable. This means that one of the most serious blunders remained hidden and out of the scrutiny of parliamentarians, the media and indeed the public, perhaps for much longer than would be justified. As the National Audit Office points out, this meant that £2 billion of public money spent on various Afghan rehabilitation schemes, including the Emergency Programme, could not be properly accounted for following the secret leak.

Human error in February 2022 could have caused a large accidental release of information and should never have happened – but lessons were not learned from previous incidents, despite small incidents. In the words of the PAC report, “the Department made targeted improvements but continued to experience data breaches”.

It’s a horrific saga, and according to Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the PAC, it could all easily happen again: “The MoD knew what it was doing – it knew the risks of using inadequate systems to handle sensitive personal information as the security environment in Afghanistan deteriorated. We have no confidence in the MoD’s current ability to prevent such an incident from happening again.”

Although nothing can now be done to address the failings of the past, at least the Defense Secretary, John Healey, and his colleagues can now ensure that the Afghans concerned are safely resettled in Britain, and conduct a more effective review of his department’s processes – and its apparently casual culture.