UK MoD Unable To Calculate Afghan Data Leak Relocation Costs

Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been unable to precisely determine the total cost of the secret Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) relocation scheme, which was established following a major data breach exposing the details of nearly 19,000 Afghan resettlement applicants. The National Audit Office (NAO) reported that the MoD did not separately record ARR expenses in its accounts, instead including them within broader Afghan resettlement costs, which has undermined confidence in the estimated £850 million overall expenditure. The ARR was set up covertly in 2024 to evacuate individuals at risk due to the 2022 leak, which revealed sensitive information and forced the government to resettle many Afghans at risk of Taliban reprisals. A superinjunction prevented media reporting on the breach and the scheme until July 2025, when the government publicly acknowledged and apologized for the incident. As of mid-2025, over 23,000 people affected by the breach have been or will be evacuated under ARR, with estimated government-wide costs averaging £128,000 per individual resettled. Despite estimates of £400 million spent so far and a further £450 million expected, the NAO criticized the government for lack of sufficient evidence to verify these figures, highlighting ongoing uncertainty and financial opacity surrounding this costly and sensitive operation.