Britain has been told to pay more than £10 million in unemployment benefit to eastern European migrants who have left Britain, returned home and now cannot find a job.

Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have demanded that Iain Duncan Smith’s department funds their jobless citizens because they once worked and paid national insurance in the UK.

His department has refused because the migrants had not worked in the UK long enough to claim, but the three countries have threatened to issue a diplomatic protest.

Czech labour minister Michaela Marksova-Tominova (right) said Britain owed her country £3million in benefits under EU rules but Iain Duncan Smith (left) has refused to pay because the migrants didn't work long enough

Czech labour minister Michaela Marksova-Tominova said Britain owed her country £3million in these benefits under European Union rules.

Britain has already paid £800,000 under these rules, but she is writing to Mr Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, demanding another £2.2million.

Barbora Petrova of the Slovakian labour ministry said her government was seeking £4.9million from Britain in outstanding unemployment benefits, while Poland is making a multi-million-pound claim but has not revealed the exact figure.

It is understood the three countries’ ambassadors have demanded a meeting with Sir Ivan Rogers, the British permanent representative to the EU, to issue an official diplomatic protest.

Mrs Marksova-Tominova said: ‘I expect this meeting to resolve the situation.’

If not, the situation could escalate when Mr Duncan Smith attends a meeting of EU employment ministers next month. An EU agreement means that citizens of one country who work in another are entitled to out-of-work benefits if they have paid national insurance for a certain period.

In the UK the threshold is two years, but in other European countries it is as low as six months.

The three countries claim the situation began two years ago when the rules in the UK changed. If they succeed in getting the money, it could open the doors to claims from other European countries – many of which have high unemployment rates.

An EU agreement means citizens of one country who work in another are entitled to out-of-work benefits if they have paid national insurance for a certain period. The threshold is two years in the UK, but lower elsewhere

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘This Government does not pay benefits to someone in another country when they would not have been eligible for them in the UK. We are working with our counterparts across Europe on this issue.’

Andrew Rosindell, the Tory MP for Romford said: ‘I find this astonishing. People who come here to work should only be paid benefits if they have fully paid into the system for a long time.

‘If they are entitled to go home and then claim more than British citizens can, then the system needs looking at.’

Jonathan Isaby, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Britain must of course meet legal requirements, but the Government needs to push Brussels to address this ludicrous situation before any more taxpayers’ money is wasted.

If they are entitled to go home and then claim more than British citizens can, then the system needs looking at. Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford

‘Taxpayers here will be baffled that it’s apparently their responsibility to pay benefit bills in foreign countries.’

Officials said the Government does reimburse other countries when migrants have paid enough in natural insurance that they would be eligible for unemployment benefit in the UK.

Jobseekers Allowance at up to £72.40 a week is just one of the benefits which can be claimed abroad. Child benefit is paid to the children of migrants from the European Union, even if they do not live in the UK. British citizens who live abroad can also claim some benefits including the winter fuel payment, even if they live in a hot climate.

The Czech Republic was the first to ask for unpaid unemployment benefits.

Employment ministry spokesman Petr Sulek said: ‘Great Britain is the only European union country which does not accept the European regulation and its attitude to the unemployment benefits refund has been very restrictive. This is not a problem only between the Czech Republic and Great Britain. Great Britain’s debts to Poland and Slovakia are even higher.’

Magdalena Gorska, from the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, said: ‘Poland has asked the UK for a partial refund of the benefits ... to date, the United Kingdom has paid off to Poland for more than half of the requested amounts.’

She said Poland had asked the European Commission to ask the UK to ‘reconsider their position’.