Britain should refrain from criticising Ireland’s open-door policy towards Ukrainian refugees, an influential Conservative MP has said, after anonymous briefings claimed it was creating a security risk for the UK.
Simon Hoare, the chair of the Northern Ireland affairs committee and frequent commentator on Anglo-Irish relations, tweeted: “Instead of criticism of our Irish friends and neighbours, [the UK] could be much better replicating its response.”
He added that the UK “needs to move today from pettifogging process to active delivery”. “Don’t criticise Irish republic: replicate it. Remember how we responded to Ugandan Asian crisis? We can and must do this,” he said.
He was responding to claims that Ireland’s decision to lift all restrictions for refugees fleeing war would create a back door to the UK, leaving the country vulnerable to potential criminal elements.
The Irish government minister Roderic O’Gorman told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that giving shelter to refugees was “the right thing to do”, revealing that 2,200 Ukrainians had arrived in the country since Russia invaded on 24 February, compared with about 300 in the UK.
The country lifted its restrictions shortly after the invasion allowing Ukrainians to arrive without pre-vetting or visas.
Hoare was responding to a report in the Daily Telegraph that the common travel area meant Ukrainians who didn’t pass the British security checks could simply reach the UK by travelling to Northern Ireland and then getting a ferry to the UK.
Under the common travel area rules, British and Irish citizens can travel freely between the two countries without passport checks – although in practice they are required by most airlines.
A British government source alleged that this opened a back door to the UK. “Ireland has basically opened the door to everyone in Ukraine which creates a problem,” they told the Telegraph.
“We’ve seen this 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.”
The briefing made headlines in Ireland, where government officials have set up a refugee assistance operation at Dublin airport offering Ukrainians social security numbers, medical cards, housing and other supports.
It has also opened a website where householders can register to take refugees in.
O’Gorman defended the open-door policy as “the right thing to do” and said the justice minister, Helen McEntee, was in regular contact with the UK home secretary, Priti Patel.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that Ireland’s “easy access” approach was part of a wider EU response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
“Everyone who looks at the pictures coming from Ukraine right now understands that we need an immediate and generous humanitarian response,” he added.
Ireland is to take 2% of all refugees flowing into the EU as part of a Brussels pact among member states.
The open border between Ireland and the UK on the island of Ireland has existed for decades. It became an issue during Brexit talks, with leave supporters advancing similar arguments over open routes to immigration and criminal gangs.
However, the Irish and British governments argued at the time that ongoing close cooperation between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Garda was the best way to crack down on drugs and criminality.
