Angry scenes at asylum camp protest
The first of 234 asylum-seekers have arrived at a Pembrokeshire military base being used as a reception camp, after angry debate. Laura Clements reports...
PROTESTERS clashed with police outside the gates of a Ministry of Defence training camp just hours before asylum-seekers arrived on site.
A large crowd of objectors faced a heavy police presence outside the gates of the MoD camp in Penally, near Tenby, at around 9.30pm on Monday, with angry scuffles continuing into the early hours.
The protests took place after a decision by the Home Office to house asylum-seekers who have arrived in the UK by boat at the Penally site.
The barracks will be used in this way for up to a year to house male asylumseekers aged between 18 and 35.
Witnesses claimed the main group of protesters were not from the area and that some had travelled from regions outside the county and Wales.
At one point, protesters surged forwards towards police and officers appeared to try to block the entry into the camp.
The protests had died down by the time the first arrivals entered the camp in the early hours.
Superintendent Anthony Evans, Divisional Commander for Pembrokeshire, said no arrests were made, but officers are now looking at body-cam footage to identify anyone breaking the law.
Supt Evans said: “Dyfed-Powys Police is a service that relies on cooperation with our communities and we will always work to ensure that everyone’s voices are heard in a peaceful and safe way. We understand that tensions are running high in the community, but last night’s scenes endangered everyone and caused alarm.
“We are actively reviewing a significant amount of footage extracted from our officers’ body-worn cameras, from footage shared to social media and intelligence obtained from other sources. Those identified committing criminal offences will be prosecuted – last night’s policing priority was to ensure the safety of everyone at the scene.”
On Monday, Simon Hart, MP for South Pembrokeshire, said the capacity of the asylum centre had been “down-scaled slightly” from the originally planned 250 to 234 to comply with Covid-19 regulations.
Mr Hart added: “Asylum-seekers will be arriving at the site tonight [Monday] and numbers will continue to arrive during the rest of the week.
“All occupants of the site have gone through the asylum screening process, which includes being photographed, having fingerprints taken and stating their reason for claiming asylum. The Home Office informs us the majority of occupants will be from Iran and Iraq.”
Supt Evans said he was grateful to those in Penally and the surrounding community who have engaged with officers.
NEWS a village in west Wales is to host 234 asylum-seekers over the coming days and weeks has sparked an angry and emotional debate that has at times got “out of control”.
It is a debate that has been largely conducted on social media and has, say residents, often failed to acknowledge how and why the 800odd people of Penally in Pembrokeshire are feeling the way they are.
The speed of the developments over the past 10 days since the plans for the site first emerged has left many of those residents, nearly twothirds of whom are retired, reeling in shock. The first of the asylum-seekers arrived on site in the early hours of yesterday morning, just hours after protesters clashed with police at the gates.
Many residents in their seventies and eighties have been left in a state of confusion, not clued up on social media and left waiting for information by phone or post.
One elderly couple, who are selling their house and had a sale agreed, had gone away to visit family last weekend only to return to Penally on Monday where “all hell had let loose”.
They did not want to be identified, for fear of reprisals, but as the grandmother described how the sale had fallen through by Friday, she broke down in tears on her doorstep.
“They phoned us up and said they were pulling out and the reason they gave was because of the camp coming to the village,” she said.
The news that the asylum-seekers, all of whom will be male aged 18 to 35, will be staying at the MoD barracks next door, has left her worried.
“We are not racist, but it’s what people perceive and you can see it does worry people,” added her husband. “You can see it’s in people’s minds, just by the fact that our house sale has fallen through.”
Not everyone is fearful, however, and on Sunday afternoon, the day after a number of protests against the plans were held in Penally and in Tenby’s Tudor Square, there was a public “gesture of welcome” on Tenby South Beach.
Organised by campaign group Stand Up To Racism Wales, it was an opportunity for many Penally residents to show support for the plans and counter those who have “brought their hate to Pembrokeshire in a direct attempt to divide our community”.
More than 100 people gathered on the beach to publicly show their support for the arrivals in a climate where people are reluctant to speak out because of fear and intimidation, said one of the organisers, Patrick Connellan.
To understand how people feel in Penally first of all requires an understanding of the village itself.
The converted barracks aren’t just near the village, the boundary fence quite literally acts as garden boundaries for many houses in Penally Heights. Residents can hear conversations on the other side and some can even see right into the cabins from their bedroom windows.
The Conservative-voting village is long and surprisingly wide.
Set back from the main road between Tenby and Pembroke, many of the houses are built on a slope with views out over the sand dunes of Tenby’s South Beach and Caldey Island beyond.
It’s a place where people are happy to leave their door unlocked while they pop over to their neighbour for a chat, or let their children disappear for the afternoon on bikes and scooters.
The village hall and church are the focal point for the community, as well as the shop and the two pubs. There are few other facilities.
The village is home to around 800 people and is flanked by two large campsites. Tourism is a major part of the economy here and Penally is just a mile from Tenby, the “jewel in the crown of Wales’ tourism”, said resident Michael Williams.
Mr Williams has lived in Penally with his wife, Denise, for eight years.
He can’t understand why the MoD facility is being converted in the heart of Pembrokeshire’s tourist attractions.
“This will affect tourism, without a doubt,” he said.
His house is towards the top of the estate immediately next door to the Penally camp. The barbed wire perimeter fence of the compound peeps over his garden wall and every window of his family home looks into the camp.
The couple have a small annex which they let out to holidaymakers.
“Who’s going to want to come here on holiday now?” he asked.
“My wife won’t want to stay in the house on her own.”
Mrs Williams agreed. “We are devastated,” she said. “I’ve had some elderly neighbours calling me in tears down the phone.
“This is nothing to do with racism, this is about our rights.”
A couple of streets down from Mr Williams, a couple had paused from their gardening for a cup of tea in the sunshine. They were happy to talk about the developments at the camp but were unwilling to be identified, saying the debate had got too much for them in the past few days.
Their garden wall is right up against the camp fence, just like Mr Williams’, but they are not worried about the new arrivals.
They said: “We’re not really getting into all that protesting and stuff. It’s been decided already and I’m quite chilled about it.
“I think we just have to wait and see how it pans out.”
There is a strong feeling that the people of Penally have been largely ignored by the Home Office. Rumours first surfaced of plans to turn the training camp into a centre for asylum-seekers two weekends ago, prompted in part by unusual activity inside the compound.
It was the first Penally councillor Jonathan Preston had heard of the plans and so too for South Pembrokeshire MP and Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart. Pembrokeshire council’s chief executive, Ian Westley, was also only made aware of plans thanks to “local rumour” late on September 11, he said.
On Monday, September 14, Cllr Preston believed the plans were merely a “scoping exercise being carried out by the Home Office” but said he had been prevented from attending a meeting held at the start
of the week between Mr Hart, the Home Office and Pembrokeshire council.
On Friday, Cllr Preston said: “On Monday morning I was advised by the Home Office that a ‘series of announcements’ would be made in the coming days regarding the plans for Penally camp, for whatever reason that has not happened.
“Despite still not having any confirmed information on this situation I think we need to accept that the Home Office may start the process of using the camp to accommodate asylum-seekers within the next few days.”
By Friday afternoon, Mr Hart confirmed the plans and said the first arrivals would be settled in the camp from Monday. He said the Home Office only confirmed this with the Welsh Office the day before, on September 17, and was told the impact on the community would be “minimal”.
In a letter which he wrote to residents and featured on his Facebook page, Simon Hart said it was vital to exercise “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.
“As ever during Covid, the position changes all the time so I will remain in daily contact with residents and stakeholders as well as the Home Office to make sure that local interests are protected in what is a very difficult time for everybody.”
Mr Hart added that the capacity of the asylum centre has been “downscaled slightly” from the originally planned 250 to 234 to comply with Covid-19 regulations.
Eluned Morgan, the MS for Mid and West Wales and Minister for International Relations in the Welsh Government, confirmed that the Welsh Government “received no prior notification of the decision taken by the Home Office”.
On Friday, Ms Morgan said: “The decision to select Penally Training Camp was taken solely by the Home Office without any prior discussion with Welsh or local government. I am concerned also at the lack of consultation with the local community.”
Mr Williams says it was done in an “underhand way” and it is that which bothers some people just as much as the 250 men due to arrive at the camp.
Towards the end of the village, where the houses almost touch the perimeter fence, people are “terrified”.
One elderly couple claimed the value of their house has plunged by around £100,000 following the announcement of the plans.
They said: “If they were families being brought in we would have more sympathy but up to 250 men in a village of 800 people is a big thing.”
One family has just taken delivery of fencing to build a wooden fence around their property, while others say it’s virtually impossible to buy CCTV cameras in the area as people have rushed out to improve their security arrangements.
Naomi Chiffi has lived in Penally for three-and-a-half years and says a lack of clarity about the issue has led to “a rhetoric of hatred, bigotry and racism”.
The 40 year old agreed that some villagers had “genuine concerns” about the plans and a list of “valid questions”.
She said: “I believe they deserved answers but sadly, they were all being unfairly tarred with the same brush of racism and bigotry, thanks to the involvement of [a] far-right faction. There is no room for fascism in Pembrokeshire.
“I believe that we are all born free and equal and are each deserving of the same basic human rights... and would gladly give my time to support any initiatives set up to support the people who come here.
“The people are now here and the very last thing anyone should be doing is showing hostility towards them. It is really important to remember that we can’t possibly make judgements about people we have never met.”
The Home Office has confirmed it will provide onsite security for the camp, saying: “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 services onsite so we would anticipate they have limited need to leave.”
There will also be a “checking in and out system” to monitor those coming and going.
But not everyone is afraid. Jenny Hughes-Cooke has lived in Penally for eight years and said it was a “simple case of what’s human and moral”.
The 27-year-old said: “I believe that we have a duty to help those less fortunate. I totally understand the anger at how the Home Office have conducted themselves.
“We should have been informed sooner and been given the opportunity to air concerns.
“I feel the media attention this gained has given way for a rather nasty way of thinking to come to the forefront, and allowed people, some not even living in Wales, to push a far-right agenda and prey on the genuine concerns of a village and use it for their own gains.”