Labour said the Tories had reached a “new low” today after government sources compared Ukrainian refugees to drug cartels.
Ministers have apparently raised concerns that Ireland’s open-door policy to Ukrainian refugees creates a security risk for the UK, according to The Telegraph.
Dublin has joined an EU-wide scheme that allows those fleeing Ukraine to settle without a visa for three years.
However, the UK has a stricter entry process that requires all Ukrainian applicants to seek a formal visa and to submit biometric data for security checks.
A British government source told the newspaper that Ireland had “basically opened the door” to everyone in Ukraine, creating a problem because of the Common Travel Area.
“We’ve seen before with migrants from Albania that they have come through Dublin, into Belfast and across to the mainland to Liverpool. That’s created a drug cartel route,” they said.
Labour’s shadow minister for immigration Stephen Kinnock hit back, describing it as a “new low” for the Tory Party.
He tweeted: “Conservative ministers are now comparing Ukrainian women and children who are fleeing the horrors of war to Albanian drug runners. This is a new low, even for The Nasty Party.”
The SNP’s Pete Wishart added: “So the UK berating countries doing their bit to help with the refugee crisis because they don’t want people to come here.”
It comes as the Home Office struggles to explain its chaotic response to the Ukraine refugee crisis.
European leaders are bracing themselves for an influx of refugees from Ukraine three times larger than the number from Syria in 2015.
More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion but just 300 Ukrainians have so far been granted visas to come to Britain.
By comparison, Poland has taken nearly 800,000 Ukrainian refugees and Germany around 30,000, according to reports.
Home Secretary Priti Patel was yesterdat forced to deny suggestions that the UK was not supporting Ukrainian refugees at Calais and telling them to go to Paris or Brussels to apply for visas.
Meanwhile, the Disasters Emergency Committee has warned that the conflict puts women and girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence.
Huge numbers of women, children and young people are arriving at Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, with only what they can carry.
The Home Office declined to comment on the quote in the Telegraph.
But on support provided to Ukrainian refugees, a government spokesperson said: “Last week we announced a new sponsorship route which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come to the UK.
“This is alongside our Ukraine Family Scheme, which has already seen thousands of people apply, as well as changes to visas so that people can stay in the UK safely.
“The routes we have put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners. This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review.”