Nigel Farage Says Some Afghans Airlifted To UK Are 'Sex Offenders'. But There's No Evidence That's True

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party speaks at an event in London, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)Nigel Farage has been urged to come up with evidence to back up his claim that some Afghans airlifted to the UK after a data leak put their lives at risk are “convicted sex offenders”.The Reform UK leader made the claim after it emerged that the government had used a super-injunction to cover up the scandal for nearly two years.A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was accidentally released “in error” in February 2022 by a Ministry of Defence official.The mistake was only uncovered 18 months later after a threat was made to publish the list on Facebook, potentially putting those named at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.The leak led to the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April last year.The scheme is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected final cost of about £850 million – far less than the £7 billion initially forecast.A total of around 6,900 people are expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme.In a video posted on X yesterday, Farage said: “Amongst the number that have come are convicted sex offenders – I am not, I promise you, making any of this up, and the total cost of this operation has been a staggering £7 billion.”He added: “The numbers are off the charts, the cost is beyond comprehension and the threat to women walking the streets of this country, frankly, is incalculable.“I can’t think of a better example of the total incompetence, dishonesty and genuine lack of understanding [of] what the priorities of a British government are than this Afghan scandal.”But on Times Radio this morning, defence secretary John Healey insisted Farage was wrong and that any sex offenders would be “denied access to Britain”.Asked by presenter Kate McCann if he could “guarantee that nobody who came here under this specific scheme is linked to the Taliban, other terror groups or are responsible for violent or sexual assaults”, he replied: “Yes.”Healey went on: “Anyone who has come into this country under any of the government schemes that was under the previous government and now from Afghanistan is checked carefully for security, checked carefully for any of those sort of criminal records that would preclude and prevent them coming to this country.”The minister added: “If [Farage has] got hard evidence of individuals that pose a risk, he needs to report that information to the police.“We run security checks about the backgrounds of those individuals and where they pose those sorts of threats, they’re prevented from coming and denied access to Britain.”Reform UK have been approached for comment.Related...Even Some Reform Voters Think Nigel Farage Is An 'A******e', So What Is His Appeal?Nigel Farage Gets Schooled By Keir Starmer As He Tries To Stir The Brexit PotFarage Urged To 'Come Clean About What He Knew' After Reform MP Quits Party

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