Former Afghan military personnel who served alongside British forces during NATO’s mission in Afghanistan say their applications for relocation to the UK have been denied, despite a major data breach.
The breach exposed their identities and heightened the risks they face under Taliban rule.
In a statement sent to media outlets, several ex-servicemen said that human lives should not be left at the mercy of arbitrary decisions.
The controversy follows a 2022 leak of sensitive documents containing personal details of Afghans who supported British troops. The information was circulated online in 2023. Initially kept confidential under a court order, the case became public in 2025 after the High Court forced the government to disclose it. A secret relocation scheme was later launched, but many say their cases remain unresolved or unfairly rejected.
Applicants under the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) say they received mass rejections without adequate review. Speaking to Afghanistan International, one former Afghan special forces soldier said: “I applied for ARAP in 2022 and was rejected in 2023. Many of my colleagues were also denied. In early 2025, I received an email saying my case was under review again but today, Friday, several of us received emails confirming our applications were rejected again.”
He added that his former unit, consisting of around 50 soldiers who worked on the same missions with British troops, saw inconsistent decisions. “Some were accepted, others weren’t. It makes no sense,” he said.
Several of the veterans say they remain in hiding due to security threats. One said a colleague was recently detained by the Taliban after documents linking him to British forces were discovered on his phone. He has been missing for nearly a month.
‘Our Voices Must Be Heard’
In a joint statement, a group of former Afghan soldiers said that despite submitting detailed evidence of their collaboration, including videos, photos, official commendations, and threats against them, their ARAP applications were rejected for reasons such as “lack of formal contracts” or “unverifiable documentation.”
They argued that during joint combat operations, formal contracts were rarely issued, and cooperation with British forces was often informal but well-documented.
One applicant said his photos and videos with British troops were dismissed by UK authorities on the grounds that “British officers’ faces were not clearly identifiable” or that “his presence in the images could not be confirmed.”
The group is now calling on UK parliamentarians, human rights organisations, and the media to push for an independent and transparent review of the ARAP application process.
Iran Seeks Names of Afghan Collaborators
Meanwhile, The Telegraph has reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has asked the Taliban to provide a list of roughly 25,000 Afghans who worked with British forces. According to the report, Iran aims to identify individuals with potential links to the UK’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, and may use the information to gain leverage in ongoing nuclear negotiations with the West.
The list reportedly includes the names of more than 100 British special forces and intelligence officers.
