Not all local staff of the western troops made it out of Afghanistan. Now, a mistake by the British Ministry of Defense is likely to put a good 250 interpreters at risk.
The UK Department of Defense accidentally leaked the email addresses of more than 250 Afghan interpreters, potentially putting them at risk. A spokeswoman for the ministry admitted the data breach on Monday evening and announced an investigation. The mistake “could cost interpreters their lives, especially if they are still in Afghanistan,” a translator told the BBC.
The station had previously reported that the Ministry of Defense had sent an email to interpreters planning to enter the UK, promising help with leaving Afghanistan. All recipient addresses were visible to all other recipients. Often the addresses were also provided with a profile photo, which was also displayed to all recipients.
Ministry apologizes
The ministry spokeswoman said later that investigations into a “data protection violation” had been initiated by the department responsible for leaving Afghans. “We apologize to everyone who has been affected by this violation and we are working hard to prevent this from happening again,” she added.
The Conservative MP and former Secretary of State in the Department of Defense, Johnny Mercer, spoke of a “criminally negligent” incident. Many former local workers would now have to go into hiding again to avoid retaliation. According to the BBC report, 30 minutes after the first email, the ministry sent another email asking the interpreters to change their email addresses.
Local forces in Afghanistan fear revenge from the Taliban
After the Taliban came to power, former members of the Western armed forces, organizations and embassies in Afghanistan fear retaliation by the Islamists. A similar data breach had already occurred in August: The Times newspaper reported that documents with personal information about employees and applicants had been left behind in the British embassy in Kabul.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the beginning of September that after the end of the evacuation measures there were still 311 people with protection status in Afghanistan. “We will do everything we can to ensure that these people are granted the safe exit they deserve,” he said in parliament. Britain had flown over 15,000 people from Afghanistan.
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