Papers identifying local British embassy workers found abandoned in Kabul

Documents that identify Afghan workers and those applying for jobs have been found left on the ground at the British diplomatic mission in Kabul, the Foreign Office has defended its embassy staff.

The papers containing the contact details of seven Afghans was found by a journalist from The Times newspaper whilst on a tour of the now abandoned diplomatic quarter. It is understood the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in Parliament is set to launch an inquiry into the matter.

The documents were also believed to contain personal information for a senior staff member, other staff members and the CVs and addresses of job applicants. Other details included previous work undertaken by local Afghans for western countries.

Among those were three Afghan staff and eight family members, including five children, who were caught in crowds at Kabul airport unable to access the British-controlled section of the facility. They were, however, eventually found and rescued.

“The Foreign Office appeared to have lost these staff, and their evacuation only occurred after their details were passed on by The Times,” the newspaper reported.

The fate of at least two job applicants whose details were left on the ground at the embassy remains unknown.

The apparent blunder made as staff hastily abandoned the embassy as the Taliban reclaimed Kabul appeared to ignore evacuation protocols of shredding and destroying all data that could compromise local workers.

It also came after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected a request to speak with his Afghan counterpart about the evacuation of interpreters who worked for Britain two days before the fall of Kabul, while he was on holiday on Crete, The Times said.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has acknowledged the apparent error, but said staff had tried to destroy sensitive material before leaving the embassy.

“We have worked tirelessly to secure the safety of those who worked for us including getting three families to safety,” a FCDO spokesperson said.

“During the drawdown of our Embassy every effort was made to destroy sensitive material.”

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee will conduct an inquiry into the incident, according to its chairman, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat.

Mr Tugendhat said in a tweet: “How @FCDOGovUK handled this crisis will be the subject of a coming @CommonsForeign inquiry. The evidence is already coming in.”