Azadeh Moshiri
Pakistan correspondent
Reporting fromIslamabad
An Afghan man, whose details were accidentally leaked by the UK in a major data breach, has been detained in Pakistan for imminent deportation alongside several family members, his son told the BBC.
The BBC has seen documents which appear to confirm the man was part of Afghan special forces units who worked alongside British forces in Afghanistan, known as the Triples.
The threat of deportation comes as Pakistan continues its drive to remove what they say are “illegal foreign nationals” to their countries.
But the Afghan man’s son said their case is particularly urgent, as if they are deported to Afghanistan, he fears they will be killed because of his father’s Triples association.
The Taliban government claims that all Afghans can “live in the country without any fear”. But a UN report titled “No safe haven” that was released last month cast doubt on their assurances about a general amnesty.
The man and his family initially applied to the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) – which was set up to relocate and protect Afghans who worked with British forces or the UK government in Afghanistan – shortly after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
The family were in Pakistan waiting for a final decision on the application – which was endorsed by the Ministry of Defence last year – when Pakistani authorities came to take them away.
The man’s son, Rayan, whose name we are changing for his safety, told the BBC he avoided being rounded up after hiding in a hotel bathroom in the capital Islamabad with his wife and baby son as several of his family members were taken to a holding camp.
“Some of my family are just children, the youngest is only eight months old, we kept begging the police to leave them.”
His brother later called from the camp to say officials informed them they would be deported, Rayan added.
“My brother told me they were kept in a room with about 90 other people, and were then singled out by name and separated,” Rayan said. “I’m so scared they will suddenly be deported.”
Rayan explained the family had been in limbo in Pakistan since October 2024, when the family had their biometrics recorded.
But they are still waiting.
“We have just been waiting with no explanation. They kept telling us to wait, and now it is too late,” Rayan said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said it does not comment on individual cases. “We remain fully committed to honouring our commitments to all eligible people who pass their relevant checks for relocation,” the statement added.
The situation is made more worrying by the fact the family’s details were among those of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to resettle in the UK which were inadvertently leaked in February 2022. Families involved in the leak fear it has made them vulnerable.
Rayan is now terrified police will come back to detain him, his wife and their child next, and said he has been pleading with the British High Commission in Islamabad to be relocated to another hotel for protection.
Calvin Bailey, a Labour MP who worked alongside the Afghan Triples as an RAF commander, told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that the situation is “incredibly upsetting”. He said Rayan’s father and the Triples were “people that we need to help and we owe a duty to and we must ensure that they receive more than the minimum protection”.
Bailey went on to add that he hopes the government and the British High Commission is engaged behind the scenes, even though that work is not always public.
Pakistan has a long record of taking in Afghan refugees. But the government has previously said it has been frustrated by the length of time it has taken for Afghans to be relocated to other countries.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Talal Chaudry, told the BBC it “should ask the UK authorities why they are delaying these resettlements”.
“It’s already been years,” he said. “Do you really think they will give any leniency to Pakistani nationals who are overstaying in the UK?”
Since September 2023, the year Pakistan launched its “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan”, 1,159,812 individuals have returned to Afghanistan, according to the United Nations migration agency.
The government has maintained its policy is aimed at all illegal foreign nationals.
About three million Afghans are living in Pakistan, according to the UN’s refugee agency – including around 600,000 people who came after the Taliban takeover in 2021. The UN estimates that half are undocumented.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has called on Pakistan to “ensure that any return of Afghans to Afghanistan is voluntary, safe and dignified”.
Amid police raids and deportations this summer, UNHCR has urged the government “to apply measures to exempt Afghans with continued international protection needs from involuntary return”.
Additional reporting by Usman Zahid
