{"id":1083475,"date":"2021-12-04T10:28:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T15:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1083475"},"modified":"2021-12-04T10:28:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T15:28:57","slug":"exclusive-uk-govt-not-in-public-interest-to-disclose-how-many-afghan-evacuees-are-ex-deportees-or-on-watch-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-uk-govt-not-in-public-interest-to-disclose-how-many-afghan-evacuees-are-ex-deportees-or-on-watch-lists\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE \u2013 UK Govt: \u2018Not In Public Interest\u2019 to Disclose How Many Afghan Evacuees Are Ex-Deportees or on Watch Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-uk-govt-not-in-public-interest-to-disclose-how-many-afghan-evacuees-are-ex-deportees-or-on-watch-lists%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1083475&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1234713059-e1638468077118-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The British government has told Breitbart London it knows how many Afghans airlifted to the UK were on watch lists or had previously been deported from the country \u2014 but insists it is not in the public interest to reveal it.<\/p>\n<p>Germany and Sweden \u2014 countries with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2016\/04\/06\/cologne-police-reveal-cover-new-years-eve-rape-attacks-ordered-government\/\">less than stellar reputation for being forthright<\/a> about public safety issues <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2017\/01\/18\/sweden-blocks-data-crime-immigration\/\">linked to immigration<\/a> \u2014 have both admitted that some of the Afghans they evacuated from Kabul during its fall to the Taliban turned out to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/08\/27\/deported-criminal-afghans-back-in-sweden-after-boarding-kabul-evacuation-flight\/\">people they had previously deported<\/a>, with German interior minister&nbsp;Horst Seehofer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euroweeklynews.com\/2021\/09\/04\/germany-evacuates-afghan-refugees-along-with-more-than-20-dangerous-criminals\/\">revealing<\/a>&nbsp;that his country had taken in Afghan evacuees who were \u201chigh-calibre criminals\u201d, some \u201crelevant to security\u201d and regarded as a \u201cserious threat\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Boris Johnson\u2019s government has been less forthcoming about such issues, although reports have got out that at least one Afghan evacuee had&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/08\/24\/afghan-roulette-uk-france-accidentally-evacuate-security-risk-individuals\/\">been on Britain\u2019s \u201cno-fly\u201d list<\/a>&nbsp;and was seemingly airlifted in error. Another Afghan \u2014 a former special forces commando \u2014 was revealed to have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/09\/10\/uk-evacuated-afghan-special-forces-commando-arrested-by-british-police-in-dawn-raid\/\">arrested in a dawn raid<\/a> on the hotel he was hosted at not long after his arrival.<\/p>\n<p>In the interests of greater public transparency, Breitbart London therefore asked the Home Office \u2014 the Prit Patel-led government department with broad responsibility for national security and immigration \u2014 to disclose precisely how many Afghan evacuees were \u201cfound to have previously been on \u2018no-fly\u2019 or \u2018no-entry\u2019 lists\u201d or to \u201chave previously been deported from the United Kingdom\u201d under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>The request should have been answered within 20 days, but close to this statutory deadline the Home Office replied that it would be extending it in order to consider whether they could keep the information secret by applying a so-called public interest test \u2014 \u201cused to balance the public interest in disclosure against the public interest in favour of withholding the information.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>A month later, the Home Office finally gave <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatdotheyknow.com\/request\/785955\/response\/1901344\/attach\/html\/3\/65818%20J%20Montgomery%20Response.pdf.html\">its answer<\/a>, admitting \u201cthat the Home Office holds the information that you have requested\u201d \u2014 but adding that \u201cafter careful consideration\u201d it had decided it was not in the public interest to disclose it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.8490566037736\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Deported Criminal Afghans Back in Sweden After Boarding Kabul Evacuation Flight <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YsLNocaoFI\">https:\/\/t.co\/YsLNocaoFI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1431184288565841923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 27, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018public interest\u2019 is not the same as what interests the public. In carrying out a PIT [Public Interest Test] we consider the greater good or benefit to the community as a whole if the information is released or not,\u201d they patronisingly explained.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the Home Office claimed that revealing how many ex-deportees and people on watch lists had been airlifted to Britain could somehow \u201cprovide insight into the operational capabilities of Border Force intelligence-based operations and systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRevealing this information, along with other pieces of information obtained under [the Freedom of Information Act], would potentially allow a picture of the intelligence resources available to Border Force,\u201d they suggested \u2014 without explaining how \u2014 and then went on to raise the still-less explicable objection that disclosure could also \u201clead to the identification of the individuals concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Speaking to Breitbart London, Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet described the Home Office\u2019s justification for the secrecy as \u201cboth baffling and disingenuous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a former immigration officer and diplomat who has worked at various British embassies over many years, I appreciate the sensitivities around giving too much information away, which might prove helpful to hostile groups or forces. In this case, I can\u2019t for the life of me see how revealing just the number who have slipped through the net will give anything of value away,\u201d Mr Mehmet said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt might of course show that border control is not what it should be, but even that is something of which the public need to be aware,\u201d he added, remarking that efforts to \u201chide or disguise such facts undermines both our trust and confidence in officials, as well as in the government\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps not coincidentally, it was recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/conservative-party-political-advisers-vetting-foi-releases-8w6dbjljm\">revealed<\/a> that government ministers\u2019 special advisers \u2014 party political actors, not professional civil servants \u2014 have a role in vetting whether or not bureaucrats can disclose public information their masters might regard as \u201cparticularly sensitive\u201d, in part so they can \u201cbe sighted on possible reaction or comment in the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.7904191616766\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UK: Evacuated Afghan Special Forces Commando Arrested by British Police in Dawn Raid <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/g3BW4prL0P\">https:\/\/t.co\/g3BW4prL0P<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1436375415560413190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 10, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Further commenting on the refusal, Bow Group chairman Ben Harris-Quinney told Breitbart London that it is \u201cthe job of the Home Office to protect the British public, not every person in unfortunate circumstances on earth. For the Home Office to refuse to disclose to the public whether asylum seekers pose a security threat is a clear dereliction of that primary duty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Bow Group warned at the time that the scramble to fly thousands of Afghans to the UK following the disastrous military evacuation of Kabul posed a serious security risk,\u201d added Harris-Quinney, who has <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bowgroup\/status\/1437468580594032644?t=WfckvvXlGoQhK_wfYRUiuA&amp;s=19\">previously warned<\/a> that some of the people fleeing the Taliban will be from rival terrorist groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt one point Afghan citizens were being loaded onto evacuation planes without any passport or identity checks, let alone detailed security checks,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n<p>The Home Office partially acknowledged this in its Freedom of Information response to Breitbart London, as we had also asked how many Afghan evacuees were found to have \u201cforged documents and\/or documents that [did] not belong to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are aware that during the evacuation staff on the ground in Afghanistan identified asylum seekers who were in the possession of forged documents, or documents that did not belong to them,\u201d they admitted, but went on to claim they could not provide numbers because \u201cBorder Force does not have access to the information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, evacuees were not only checked (or not checked) on departure from Afghanistan, but also on arrival in the United Kingdom, with Border Force sources telling <em>The Telegraph<\/em> that&nbsp;\u201csome Afghan evacuees had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/08\/30\/uk-border-force-admits-some-afghan-evacuees-have-forged-papers\/\">arrived at Heathrow with no documentation<\/a> at all, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/08\/30\/uk-border-force-admits-some-afghan-evacuees-have-forged-papers\/\">others carried forged papers<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Breitbart London has therefore requested an internal review of the Home Office\u2019s claim that it will not and cannot answer the questions which have been posed to it.<\/p>\n<p>The government should have completed its internal review by November 19th but, as of the time of publication, Breitbart London has received no further substantive correspondence.<\/p>\n<p>If the internal review does not produce results, an appeal to the&nbsp;Information Commissioner\u2019s Office (ICO) \u2014 which can order a government department to comply with a reasonable request \u2014 will be made; a tactic that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/07\/19\/exclusive-london-local-govt-admits-alleged-anti-semite-who-screamed-queen-still-statues-review-after-freedom-information-battle\/\">proven fruitful in the past<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"5.8591549295775\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UK Border Force Admits Some Afghan Evacuees Have Forged Papers <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wi6AWPrOTL\">https:\/\/t.co\/wi6AWPrOTL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1432321201360175109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A separate Freedom of Information request was made concerning the potential relocation of members of the Afghan National Police (ANP) to the United Kingdom, and whether any measures had been put in place to vet them in light of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ja5Q75hf6QI&amp;t=3073s\">systemic child sexual abuse<\/a> which has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/09\/21\/world\/asia\/us-soldiers-told-to-ignore-afghan-allies-abuse-of-boys.html\">reported<\/a> among its ranks.<\/p>\n<p>The Home Office\u2019s response was vague, simply claiming that any such evacuees would be subject to&nbsp;\u201cthe same strict security checks as those resettled through other schemes\u201d and alluding to \u201ccivil powers\u2026 and other measures to manage those who pose a threat to our national security\u201d in general.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether it had \u201cproduced any reports, reviews, etc. related to potential child safeguarding issues with respect to the relocation of Afghans to the UK since the beginning of 2021\u201d the Home Office admitted that it had not.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"This Is What Winning Looks Like (Full Length)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ja5Q75hf6QI?start=3073&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackBMontgomery\"><span>@JackBM<\/span><\/a><\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackBMontgomery\"><span>ontgomery<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Breitbart London on Facebook:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BreitbartLondon\/\"><span>Breitbart London<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The British government has told Breitbart London it knows how many Afghans airlifted to the UK were on watch lists or had previously been deported from the country \u2014 but &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1083475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1083475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1083475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1083475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1083475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}