Village wants answers as ‘asylum camp to open’
AMILITARY base in Pembrokeshire will be used as a temporary camp for asylum seekers in a matter of days, despite local opposition.
Up to 250 asylum seekers, who will be single adult men, will be housed at the MoD facility just outside Tenby as facilities in south-east England reach straining point.
All those in the camp will be free to move around the area while their claims are being processed, with a checking-in system to monitor their movements.
Penally’s Army training centre was the only location considered in Wales by the Home Office, but locals say the plan had been “sprung” on the village. South Pembrokeshire MP Simon Hart said he was only told about the plans last week.
On Thursday evening, the normallyshut-up huts had their doors open and rows of beds could be seen inside.
Some locals believe the first wave of arrivals will begin on Monday depending on the number of immigrants landing on UK shores over the coming days.
The UK Government has confirmed its plans for Penally, which it has said is a “temporary arrangement” of up to a year.
It is understood it will be one of two “migrant camps” for people who have crossed the Channel in small boats. A disused Army barracks in Kent is also due to receive asylum seekers next week.
A UK Government spokesman said: “This site was selected because it met the required needs following an assessment by the MoD of potentially suitable and available sites.”
The Home Office has confirmed it will provide on-site security. The spokesman added: “However, these people are not being detained so they are able to leave the site if they wish. We will be providing all their meals and wellbeing services on-site so we would anticipate they have limited need to leave the site.”
But Plaid Cymru’s equalities spokeswoman, Leanne Wood, said a military camp was a “perverse” place for people who may have witnessed “the horrors of conflict”.
“In meeting its moral duty to protect these individuals, the UK Government should identify sites which are both safe and suitable to house them. At present, they seem to be failing on both fronts.”
The news has divided a normally quiet village on the outskirts of Tenby which is home to people mostly of retirement age. Rows of privately-owned houses are set back on the hill with views over the sand dunes behind Tenby South beach and Caldey Island beyond. Their gardens almost touch the perimeter fence of the MoD facility which has hardly been used over the past few years.
In the summer, its population more than doubles as hundreds of holidaymakers flock to Penally’s four campsites.
The debate over the proposals to open the facility to house immigrants has raged so strongly between those who support the plans and those who are against it, there have been official calls to calm down the language.
More than 200 protesters gathered outside the camp on Tuesday evening after the news broke. Police officers monitored the peaceful protest.
It was organised by the Penally Camp Protest Facebook group, which reached 2,200 members before it deleted itself after its admins admitted it had got “totally out of control”.
There is also a concern the protest has been taken over by “out-of-town violent racists”.
A spokesman for Stand Up to Racism West Wales said: “Local people have some justifiable concerns about not being consulted over the Home Office plans and on how an area hit by austerity will cope. Shamefully, a group of fascists have travelled to the area to exploit the situation and poison the protest with myths and lies about refugees.”
The people who live in Penally are disappointed by what they see as being left in the dark until what appears to be the last minute.
One resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Everybody is in agreement that these poor souls have to be housed somewhere while their application is being processed. But people would be more confident about what is being proposed if they knew the facts.”
Jon Preston, councillor for Penally, said: “Up to 250 males between the ages of 18 and 35 will be accommodated at the barracks. They will not be detained, and it will be a temporary arrangement of around six months.
“As a small community and as a county, we have been totally excluded from this process. No opportunity to prepare, no opportunity to engage, no opportunity to ask, no opportunity to contribute and no opportunity to challenge.
“We will now need to come together to ensure that we are never overlooked like this again. We need to seek more suitable alternatives to fulfil our humanitarian obligations and we need to avoid any knee-jerk reactions to what may be. Many questions remain unanswered and I will continue to seek answers and engage with stakeholders and communities as this situation develops.”
Mr Hart said the impact would be “minimal”.
He wrote to Home Secretary, Priti Patel, earlier this week asking questions including who would fund the modified facility.
Mr Hart said yesterday: “Whether we agree with the legal position or not, we remain bound by EU law on this matter until the end of the transition period in December. It is therefore important that the organisations listed are able to devote their full effort to minimising the local impact, while exercising the compassion and tolerance for which the UK and Wales has built an international reputation.
“If we compromise this, rather than addressing the fears some have expressed we will increase the prospect of tensions and restrict the ability of the authorities to address them.”
Mr Hart’s comment prompted one resident to say: “I find it alarming that as Secretary of State for Wales as well as MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire that you haven’t been consulted on this matter by the Home Office, regardless of how contentious this issue is.”
The Home Office said it was working with the council and police to ensure “vulnerable asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute” had suitable accommodation. it said it had set up an Asylum Accommodation Strategic Group for Wales which includes the local council, health board, police, Public Health Wales, Welsh Government, Wales Office and others. It confirmed that no additional funding would be made available to the local council although Dyfed-Powys Police are planning on applying for “special grant funding” to cover their costs.