Why Have 16,000 Afghans Been Settled in the UK When Only 1,000 Served With British Forces?

16,000 Afghans have been settled in the UK since the ‘kill list’ leaked. But only about 1,000 Afghans served with British forces. Where are they all coming from, asks former veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer in the Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt.

Now the public can see for the first time the true scale of the ineptitude of the British state, through two successive governments, concerning Afghanistan.

Even after the loss of 457 British personnel, and the billions of pounds it cost to prosecute, the war in Afghanistan reveals yet another cataclysmic skeleton in the cupboard when it comes to how we have treated our Afghan allies.

It is mind-boggling that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could email a spreadsheet of all those with ties to the British state to an Afghan national, over the internet, to post on Facebook for the Taliban to see. But not for me.

Whilst there will no doubt be a rush to blame the individual who sent it (I know who he is), it would be entirely unfair and wrong to do so. Because I can honestly say this whole farcical process has been the most hapless display of incompetence by successive ministers and officials that I saw in my time in government, of which this poor individual was just the end of the line.

I was subject to the injunction. I created and ran an Afghan task force to rehome eligible Afghans under Rishi Sunak, the then prime minister.

The Home Office, the MoD, the Department for Levelling Up and the Foreign Office just could not seem to work together; the Prime Minister asked me to try and unblock it from my neutral position in the Cabinet Office.

I had also made no secret of my desire to relocate Afghan special forces personnel from that country to this in the wake of August 2021. I stand by that wholeheartedly. These brave souls fought alongside us cheek by jowl – they carried the stretchers of dead UK soldiers, they fought hard and battled bravely.

But there were only ever about 1,000-1,200 badged members of CF 333 and CF444. I couldn’t understand where all these Afghans were coming from.

I had no idea why the injunction existed in the first place; the list had appeared on Facebook and everyone, including the media, seemed to know about it. Officials seemed to get a bit of a kick out of something being ‘Top Secret’.

I thought it was weird, and it wasn’t a secret. It was a direct result of the chaos that engulfed the MoD at the end of the Afghanistan war.

Those on the ground during Op Pitting saw awful things, were incredibly brave and saved thousands of lives. I also saw how hard Ben Wallace worked to do the right thing.

But since then, it has been terrible. The MoD has tried at every turn to cut off those from Afghan special forces units from coming to the UK for reasons I cannot fathom.

They also lied to themselves about doing it. The UK’s director of Special Forces told me personally that he was offended and angry by my suggestion that his organisation was blocking the Triples.

In the passage of this injunction being lifted it has emerged one individual UKSF Officer rejected 1,585 applications by himself.

Worth reading in full.

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Mogwai
8 months ago

A daily dose of ‘Jim Chimirie’, and his take on this epic fiasco; ”There comes a point where incompetence turns into betrayal. This is that point. A Royal Marine sends the wrong email. Nearly 25,000 Afghans – soldiers, translators, cousins, brothers-in-law, who knows – are exposed in what’s now called the most serious data breach in British history. The Government, panicking over its own failure, offers asylum not just to those affected directly, but to tens of thousands more riding the wave. The final price tag? £7 billion. All of it buried under a superinjunction, hidden from Parliament, hidden from the press, hidden from us – the taxpayer expected to foot the bill. No debate. No scrutiny. No consent. Let’s be clear: this isn’t about helping a few loyal allies. This is mass importation, rubber-stamped in secret, under cover of “moral obligation.” They told us 200. Now it’s nearly 40,000. With another 17,000 on the way. In total, once the families, dependents, and chain migration kick in, we’re looking at numbers that dwarf anything ever promised by any government. And it was all done behind our back. And what do we get in return? Rising taxes. Spiralling asylum costs. Hotel… Read more »

huxleypiggles
8 months ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Not a bad summary but the reality is that this whole story is a fabrication. The reality:

Importing a foreign army was always the plan. Destroying the economy was always part of the plan. Collapsing the financial structures was always part of the plan. The intention is to start an uprising. The Afghan Army possibly imported to combat our own troops and the illegals ie mercenaries will be used to subdue the natives.

And Johnny Mecer? A gutless wonder. He could and should have spilled the beans but he didn’t so now he’s trying to cover his arse.

Mogwai
8 months ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

Very depressing and certainly not something that can be allowed to be swept under the carpet and memory-holed; ”Next move on Wallace’s Afghan debacle – lawyers swarming to bring compensation cases for the Afghans – they’ve been traumatised, mental health! So as well as moving soldiers’ families out their homes for the Afghans, as well as bringing the dude who blackmailed the MoD because obviously he was ‘at risk’ in Afghan, and bringing his family cos ECHR ‘rights to family life’, and bringing all the rest of the families also cos ECHR, costing billions – the next move will be more billions to COMPENSATE them for bringing them here. Then there’ll be the billions in benefits. Then there’ll be all the money spent dealing with their inevitable crimes. And remember – our courts have decreed and our MPs have accepted that the WORSE their crimes abroad, the MORE they are protected by the ECHR here because the MORE at risk they are if deported from reprisals in countries outside the ECHR! And remember the courts have decreed that no crime however horrific is more important than giving them their ‘rights to family life’ – even when these rights apply to… Read more »

Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey
8 months ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Well let’s face it this is deliberate policy, they will make any excuse to bring in as many people as possible. It’s not a conspiracy theory anymore it’s an absolute fact.

But the real people at risk are our own population and the establishment could not care less. In many ways they are worse than the 20th century tyrants. History will be very unkind to these people.

RTSC
RTSC
8 months ago

Just like the Pakistani Rape Gangs, not ONE Minister or even ONE Civil Servant has been held to account for this systematic cock-up, cover-up and the catastrophe it has caused in many communities.

As far as I’m concerned, the result of the last General Election is illegitimate: the Government deliberately concealed information which would no doubt have had a significant impact on how people decided to vote.

It should be overturned and it should be re-run.

huxleypiggles
8 months ago
Reply to  RTSC

I largely agree but following the C1984 I refuse to accept cock-up as an excuse. What’s occurring has been planned for.

MajorMajor
MajorMajor
8 months ago

Answers include, but are not limited to the following options:
1.) Because Britain is such a generous country, with vast resources and plenty of spare money, we welcome people from third world countries who will immensely enrich our cultural landscape, adding yet more diversity. People arriving will express their gratitude by becoming brain surgeons and joining the NHS.
2.) Because our ruling elite has a suicidal death wish, loath Britain and want to destroy it by importing all sorts of people with questionable backgrounds and beliefs.

Mogwai
8 months ago
Reply to  MajorMajor

Well many of them don’t even try. They arrive with hostile, entitled attitudes, no intention of integrating, creating a better life for themselves or respecting natives and the law of the land. Look how long this one was there before getting into trouble. And what’s the betting he was one of the many ( if not the majority ) who arrive without documents so no background checks can be done. No detention centres, no supervision, just allowed straight out into the local community they’ve been dumped on;

”A reminder Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, had only been in the UK for eight days, having arrived by boat on June 29, 2025, when he allegedly sexually assaulted a girl in Epping.

The Ethiopian has been charged & remains in custody.”

https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1945398719391629486

FerdIII
8 months ago
Reply to  MajorMajor

How many are female?
Each male has 3-4 wives and a few sex slaves.
1.000 male ‘fighters’ swells very quickly to 16.000.
Interesting to see where they plant them. The women will birth 3-4 little Syed’s. Might overwhelm the local population.

Nearenuff
Nearenuff
8 months ago

Seen a few posts on X from ex servicemen who fought alongside the Afghans all saying basically the same thing; They were allies but some of the things they got up to in their spare time were utterly disgusting and none of them should be allowed into the country

Heretic
Heretic
8 months ago
Reply to  Nearenuff

You are quite right to point this out, because all the Leftist apologists need to know the truth.

As for “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan”, I remember reading testimony from US veterans shocked at all the little Afghan boys openly sitting on rounded sticks and other objects and moving themselves around on them, in order to widen their small orifices for the convenience of the evil old perverts attending those dancing boy clubs.

As Fjordman said decades ago, “Islam Must Be Expelled From The West”.

Cotfordtags
8 months ago

I don’t know how many people remember the first days of this ridiculous waste of our incredibly brave forces and the unbelievable waste of our coin. It has always been billed as a necessary action to fix a failed state and somehow punish that state for providing succour to terrorists. However, those with good memories will remember footage of a group of rebels called the Northern Alliance, who had been fighting the Taliban since the mid nineties, watching US bombers circling in the sky dropping munitions onto the then Afghan army, made up mainly of the Taliban. So while it is portrayed as our war, it was already going on. Sadly, like the US intervention in Vietnam, the people we were supporting ultimately lost the war, yes in part because we lost the appetite to keep supporting the new Afghan regime, but also because across vast swathes of the country, the people had turned against the regime. This should never have been our war, the people we were supporting were not the cuddly side of the Afghan population, they were corrupt and just as driven to oppress as the Taliban. So why, having lost the war are we liable to… Read more »

Mogwai
8 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

No foreigners should be jumping the queue and getting housing before British people, especially British military veterans;

”Afghans given asylum in the UK following a mass data leak are being prioritised for housing over former soldiers, veterans have warned. Asylum seekers can become eligible for council housing after just nine months in the UK.
And as revealed by court documents, Afghans have been sent to Aberdeen in Scotland, Bracknell in Berkshire, Cardiff in Wales, Preston in Lancashire, West Sussex and Yorkshire.

Ford, a Parachute Regiment veteran, was shot on a tour of Afghanistan and has suffered from PTSD.
But he told the People’s Channel that he felt “degraded” by Bracknell Forest Council after falling behind in the queue for emergency accommodation to the Afghan Refugee Scheme.
“I was stabbed in the back, I got resuscitated… And I said this is enough, I needed some help. I went to my local authority, and they just point blank denied the Armed Forces Covenant even being signed,” he said.”

https://www.gbnews.com/news/afghanistan-data-leak-veterans-military-housing

Jack the dog
Jack the dog
8 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

Excellent comment I agree completely.

After 9/11 I can see there was a case to go and kick some arse, but having reached kabul we should have pulled out immediately and left the fuckers to sort themselves out.

Vile blair and idiot bush have so much to answer for, and they never will.

We can but dream.

Westfieldmike
Westfieldmike
8 months ago

Because they brought all of their families over too.

Heretic
Heretic
8 months ago

I no longer trust anything that Johnny Mercer says, after his monstrous betrayal of his Special Forces colleagues.

He fails to mention reports that the email was deliberately leaked by an Afghan angry that his own asylum application had been delayed, so he decided to blackmail the UK and force us to admit tens of thousands.

Can we be very clear about this. The reason the Taliban didn’t carry out a mass slaughter of Afghan collaborators is because MOST OF THEM WERE SECRET TALIBAN PLANTS ANYWAY, keeping the Taliban informed of every move the British & American Armed Forces made. They still do, and even more easily now that they’re all here.

One more thing: Do people realize that this £7 BILLION spent on Afghan/Taliban Fake Refugees is

EQUIVALENT TO THE ENTIRE UK FOREIGN AID BUDGET for 2023-2024???!!!

The real reason they have been secretly brought here is as part of the Invading Muslim Army, waiting for Starmer to declare war against Russia, so they can be incorporated as separate “Emergency War Units” of the British Armed Forces, and start slaughtering the helplessly disarmed Ethnic European population.

Rishi Sunak should be arrested for treason.

mickie
mickie
8 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

Agreed, especially your last sentence.

shred
shred
8 months ago

Just to even things up, I have met a few Afghans over the last 2 years. One was a garage mechanic and the British owner told me that he was excellent and they had a better work ethic than locals. The other has set up a tyre fitting business in a small garage and gave a good price with very good and friendly service. He now has another Afghan helping him and is serving 2 customers simultaneously most of the time. He says that his country has become a very dangerous place.

huxleypiggles
8 months ago
Reply to  shred

CGAF.

I am passed the point of caring about islamists. Get them out.

THE REAL NORMAL PODCAST

NEW EPISODE! Ep 59. Built By Immigrants? (Plus we talk about the Afghan issue)
https://therealnormalpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1268768/episodes/17514059-ep-59-built-by-immigrants
This week we discuss Kier Starmer’s 1-in-1-out policy with Macron. The Big Glorious Bill in the USA. Was this country built by immigrants? Pepsi ring pull disasters. Syfret’s soabox from the pub PLUS LOADS MORE!

Logo-beer-faces
RTSC
RTSC
8 months ago

We are supposed to live in a democracy. The people elect a Government to serve for up to 5 years and then, at the end of that period, hold them to account and then either re-elect it, or choose an alternative Government. That “contract” between the governing class and the governed has been completely broken by the revelation yesterday that the Not-a-Conservative-Government under Sunak had taken out a Super Secret Injunction in order to secretly import tens of thousands of Afghans to the UK; to accommodate them at our expense, spread them around our communities and provide them and their extended families with “free everything” – probably for life. These people, it is now admitted, may have had very tenuous links with the British Army in Afghanistan and many have not been vetted in any meaningful way. Since this treachery was (we are led to believe) only known to the PM, a tiny number of Ministers and Senior Civil Servants, it was possibly also kept secret from the Treasury; the OBR and therefore the Bond Markets, who were funding the profligate Tories and are now funding the even more profligate Labour Government.   The British people were deliberately denied the right to have vital information… Read more »

Covid-1984
Covid-1984
8 months ago

What an absolute horror of a human being Keir Starmer is.

adamcollyer
adamcollyer
8 months ago

Important though it is to call this fiasco out, it is also important to ask why our soldiers were in Afghanistan in the first place. I suppose the civil servants and the politicians thought we were still guarding “the gateway to India” which was “the jewel in our Empire”.

And yet in truth there was no conceivable sense in which it was in our national interest to be involved in that war.

It is long past time that our masters stopped strutting around the world stage pretending we still have an Empire.

Moonisaharshmistress
Moonisaharshmistress
8 months ago

All the Apologists for importing all these Afghans keep going on about how they were our allies, fighting for us etc. NO. We were fighting for them. We assisted the local rebels and their supporters to overthrow the previous Taliban regime. We were assisting them but they failed, as a whole, to fight enough to prevent the Taliban getting back into power. Probably knowing that we would give some of them ‘asylum’ meant they did not fight hard enough with end result that Afghanistan now has an Islamist regime and we have loads of Afghans (all of whom have a vastly different culture and outlook on life, and some of whom will be Islamists whether ‘sleepers’ or not). Taking those rebels out of Afghanistan has only made the Talibans more secure by removing their opposition. We should never have taken any of them and we should not from other war zones either.

Everyone must learn to fight for their country. When will we?

marebobowl
marebobowl
8 months ago

I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about. Isn’t this how police states run? Surely you people know, the only thing you need to know, is how much tax to pay for every little thing you do. That’s it.

Itsherlock
Itsherlock
8 months ago

The UK’s seppuku has been successful.