Healey: ‘No justification for most names in Afghan data leak to claim UK asylum’

John Healey has said there is “no justification” for most of the names in Afghan data leak to claim asylum, stating that the majority of individuals had no connection to Britain’s armed forces. Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday (16 July), the defence minister said that most names were “not eligible” for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme. “There was never a plan to bring everyone on that data set into this country and nor should we”, he said, Details of a relocation scheme following the breach which involved over 16,000 Afghans at a cost of £7billion were released yesterday after the lifting of a superinjunction. Speaking to MPs on Tuesday (15 July), Mr Healey called the breach a “serious departmental error”.