UK Suspends Official Over Leaking Details of 250 Afghan Interpreters
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The British Minister of Defense calls for immediately opening an investigation after an email accidentally leaked the details of over 250 Afghan interpreters who worked with the UK forces.
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United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defense, Ben Wallace.
The United Kingdom's Minister of Defense apologized Monday and announced the suspension of a defense official after the MoD accidentally leaked over 250 email addresses belonging to Afghan interpreters seeking to move to the UK.
"Unacceptable" is how Ben Wallace described the error, which saw the details of hundreds of Afghans included rather than blind copied, to Parliament. The names were seen on a weekly email sent out Monday.
According to Wallace, vulnerable recipients who were potentially eligible for relocation after the Taliban took over the country were warned as soon as the error was detected. Wallace also said they were also given advice on what to do.
"It is an unacceptable level of service... and on behalf of the ministry I apologize," the minister told MPs.
He expressed his anger at the blunder, revealing that he directed investigations into the matter immediately after spotting said accident.
"One individual has been suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation, and processes for data handling and correspondence processing have already been changed," he announced.
Wallace also confirmed said email was sent by an official in the ministry of defense to a number of Afghans who were considered to be relocated to the UK, and around 260 of them were still on Afghan soil.
An interpreter told the BBC the mistake "could cost the life of interpreters, especially for those who are still in Afghanistan."
Local politicians criticize the government
Many British politicians and officials criticized the government after the error, pointing to the dangers the interpreters, who are attempting to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, could be subjected to due to the leak.
"These Afghan interpreters worked alongside our British forces, and the government rightly pledged to protect them," British Labour politician and prominent dissident MP John Healey said, adding that it is not the apology that matters now and that it is the action taken to protect them.
On the conservative side, MP and former veterans minister Johnny Mercer called the data breach "criminally negligent performance."
Another Conservative, the chair of the parliament's defense committee, urged the defense minister to increase efforts and even "find clandestine means of leading these people to safety" if necessary.
The United Kingdom has airlifted over 15,000 people from Afghanistan since Kabul fell to the Taliban days after the United States and its allies withdrew from the country in a very chaotic manner. The people airlifted by the UK were British nationals and Afghans who worked with the British forces.
