The latest breach was reported on Sunday, August 23, 2026, involving Afghan applicants who had been waiting in Pakistain to travel to Britannia. According to British media reports, the incident is the 50th data breach involving Afghan applicants and allies in the past five years.
The latest incident involved the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which handles cases of Afghan applicants and their family members who have been approved for relocation by the UK Ministry of Defence’s Afghan relocation programme. The information is used to arrange flights, collect biometric data and conduct medical checks.
The IOM confirmed the incident and said immediate corrective measures had been taken and internal controls strengthened. A UK government spokesperson described the breach as limited and said the risk to those affected had been assessed as low. The affected individuals were notified and, according to British media reports, have since reached the United Kingdom.
The latest incident comes after the UK government previously confirmed 49 separate data breaches involving Afghan applicants between 2021 and 2025. Seven of those incidents were considered serious enough to be reported to Britannia’s data protection regulator.
One of the most serious breaches occurred in February 2022, when a UK Ministry of Defence employee sent a file containing information about Afghan applicants to a trusted organization. The file appeared to contain information on about 150 people, but it actually contained the details of more than 18,500 applicants.
The breach was discovered in August 2023. The British government subsequently obtained a confidential court order preventing publication of details of the incident for almost two years. The reporting restriction was lifted in July 2025.
A UK parliamentary defence committee later described the major 2022 breach as a "foreseeable systemic failure," citing inadequate tools and procedures, insufficient training and weaknesses in the culture surrounding information security.
The repeated breaches have raised concerns among Afghan applicants and former interpreters and other personnel who worked alongside British forces. Some have warned that the exposure of their personal information could put them and their relatives at risk, particularly for those who remain in Afghanistan or neighbouring countries.
The issue is particularly sensitive because the Taliban
...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan...continues to target or threaten some Afghans associated with foreign governments and military forces. Many eligible applicants have also faced prolonged delays in leaving Afghanistan and reaching Britannia.