The controversial decision to repurpose the Military of Defence base at Penally to house asylum seekers continued to be debated at the Senedd this week amongst Welsh Government ministers.

Almost two months have passed since the camp at Penally was repurposed by the Home Office, with no consultation amongst local stakeholders or the community, in a move that is claimed to be a temporary measure by the UK Government for a minimum of 12 months, brought on by a ‘blockage’ of the immigration system, caused by Covid-19 lockdown.

Director of borders, immigration and citizenship system at the Home Office Deborah Chittenden recently told an online ‘community engagement meeting’ that there had been significant pressure from the pandemic leading to a shortage of available accommodation, and Penally and Napier MoD sites were put forward as “immediately available” settings.

At Wednesday’s Senedd meeting, Plaid Cymru’s Mid and West Wales MS Helen Mary Jones (along with co-submitters Leanne Wood and Joyce Watson) put forward to the Welsh Parliament under the ‘member’s debate’ section her views, and motions that the UK Government should have held discussions with the Welsh Government and local representatives before housing asylum seekers at the Penally military base.

She called for the decision to be reconsidered because it is an unsuitable place for asylum seekers, as it is ‘isolated’ from appropriate support networks.

The debate did not pass without its own controversy though as fellow MS Neil Hamilton, and leader of UKIP Wales tabled his own amendments to the proposals.

Mr. Hamilton condemned the ‘disorder’ that has occurred from within the Penally camp in recent weeks, which has resulted in regular police attendance, and several arrests of asylum seekers residing at the facility.

He further noted the reports of asylum seekers resident in the base breaking Welsh Government coronavirus regulations and guidance, and engaging in disorderly behaviour when travelling outside of it; and the consequent distress caused to Penally residents.

Mr. Hamilton also strongly condemned what he described as sometimes ‘violent, intimidating, subversive and covert behaviour’ of extreme-left political parties and organisations, including Stand Up To Racism, Hope Not Hate and Far Right Watch Wales, that he stated had been directed towards people who expressed ‘legitimate and reasonable’ political views in relation to the situation in Penally.

Speaking at the ‘virtual’ plenary debate, Mr. Hamilton remarked: “There are two Governments responsible for this debacle in Penally, principally, the Conservative Government at Westminster who have dumped these people in a wholly unsuitable location.

“The second is the one in Cardiff, who are partly responsible because they have been virtue-signalling about Wales as a nation of sanctuary welcoming all-comers.

“There are hundreds of millions of people around the world who would like to come to Britain, in order to better their lives and we can’t blame them for that. However, we just cannot have an immigration system that allows everyone and anyone to come and live in this country.

“It is important the United Kingdom should be able to provide refuge for those in genuine need whilst deterring false claimants and removing those whose claims have been rejected.

“Britain has an honourable history of fulfilling its obligations under the various refugee and asylum conventions that have been in existence for 100 years. The UN convention of 1951, which is currently in force, says that we are obliged to protect anybody arriving in this country, who, if he were returned to country of origin, had some well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political belief or membership of a particular social group. There is absolutely no disagreement on this point as it is a basic humanitarian obligation.

“However, we are not dealing here with asylum seekers in the normal sense. They have not arrived immediately from some war-torn country. As I understand it, most if not all of them have actually arrived from France, across the channel in small boats. France is a safe a country where they were not persecuted. So, they are not seeking asylum in Britain for the reasons that are permitted under the UN 1951 convention. 

“The asylum system in this country is now under vast strain, because of these armies of people who are trying to enter this country illegally. Asylum-related accommodation is now costing us £400 million a year, and the total costs of our asylum system are now approaching £1 billion a year. That is money that could be much more profitably applied to things like the health service.”

“These people are not asylum-seekers but economic migrants. The law says asylum seekers must seek refuge in the first safe country they enter. They all come here from other EU countries, so they are not entitled to asylum in the UK. They should be sent back across the Channel not dumped in Penally,” added Mr. Hamilton.

Labour MS Joyce Watson labelled Mr. Hamilton’s move to amend the proposal as ‘shameful’.

“I’m sure that most of our colleagues will support our motion, as would the vast majority of people that we serve, but not all members of this chamber do share our view, and Neil Hamilton’s shameful amendment attests to that.

“With the best will in the world, Penally is not a suitable location and West Wales cannot at this time deliver the complex support that these men need and what they actually deserve. It is not fair to anyone. The Home Office must intervene now.”

Jane Hutt, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, also criticised the Home Office’s decision to place asylum seekers at the camp, saying it was unsuitable for ‘vulnerable people’.

Plaid Cymru MS, Leanne Wood, remarked that it was a ‘particular cruelty to force people’ who have fled conflict to live in an army base.

Conservative Welsh Assembly Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Angela Burns said that it was ‘disappointing’ that the motion before members did not propose what should be done with the asylum seekers given the ‘sheer scale of the humanitarian crisis’ at present.

“This lack of recognition within the motion of the reach of the problem and the wholly expected, downright intolerant and unpleasant tone of the amendment by Neil Hamilton has simply turned the difficult situation at Penally into a political football,” she commented.

“The real issue that needs to be addressed are the geopolitical realities that drive most people to our shores, fear and poverty, and the wealthier countries must address these realities in a meaningful way or this migration of the oppressed and dispossessed will continue.

“We all accept that the Home Office should have discussed their intention to use the Penally Barracks with the Welsh Government and should also have undertaken their normal consultation processes with the community and local services.

“However, we must also recognise that the Home Office is under immense pressure exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. They continued to support asylum seekers when normally their support would have stopped. They were unable to repatriate those whose applications had failed.

“The numbers of people being supported or assessed have risen from 45,000 to almost 60,000 individuals in a matter of months. And of course, all settings need to be Covid compliant.

“I recognise that there are very few other places available for asylum seekers in this current crisis but whilst they are at Penally I have asked the Home Office to fund any costs incurred by Hywel Dda Health Board and by Dyfed Powys Police in the course of their support for the asylum seekers.

“Whilst recognising that a military camp is not an appropriate setting for asylum seekers who have suffered internment or been in a conflict we should also recognise that these are not individuals just landed but have been in the UK for some time, are undergoing assessment of their cases and have already received some medical interventions,

“I have asked the Home Office many questions about the contractor and their obligations to provide warm, safe accommodation, decent food, support for their mental and physical needs, activities for the men, translation services and help with paperwork.

“I have been assured that the accommodation, which until recently was used by our soldiers, is suitable and meets existing asylum accommodation standards and complies with relevant housing legislation.

“Finally, I would like to recognise and thank the wider Pembrokeshire community. I am very grateful to the many individuals and organisations who have offered help. From the adjoining communities of Penally and Tenby to local faith leaders and many charities.

“I did have emails raising concerns from constituents and no wonder because stories abound of asylum seekers behaving badly, yet the reality is that, like any community, the behaviours of a handful of stroppy or aggressive people tarnish the many who recognise due process, are grateful to be in the system and who hope for a positive future.

“I’d like to thank the stakeholders who are working so hard to support all the communities involved and I will continue to press for resources and for an end to the camp being used for asylum seekers,” she added.

Plaid Cymru’s MS Helen Mary Jones told her fellow ministers that she was in regular contact with the local councillor Jon Preston over the situation at the facility in Penally, who had done everything he could to ‘build bridges’ in communities and to ‘calm people’s fears’.

“When you have a large number of men, far from home who don’t understand each other who don’t speak their own language, there will be issues and there will be conflicts, and the Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner has said that the conduct of those residing at the camp, is no different to what he would expect with any large group of young men who were not being properly supported in their own language and culture,” she said.

“I don’t quite understand how Angela Burns though can assert that the accommodation is suitable - it isn’t properly heated and it is very difficult to socially distance!

“This isn’t the right place for people to be, and the excellent work that the local health service and the local council are trying to do to respond to their needs, doesn’t mitigate the fact that it’s not the right place to be.

“She is wrong to suggest that the accommodation is suitable, and when she asks the question about where they should go, well what the Home Office needs to do is expand the accommodation that’s available in the existing dispersal centres in Wales and across the UK, so that these young men can be properly and appropriately supported, and their claims quickly processed, so that decisions can be made one way or another.”

On Mr. Hamilton’s views on the matter, she stated: “It is not the case that anyone and everyone can come and stay in the UK, and nobody is proposing that it should be the case.

“How does he think he knows how the people who are in the camp got there? He doesn’t know, he hasn’t got the faintest clue. Many have been in the UK for a long time, these are not people pouring over our borders as he would have us think.

“He has no way of knowing whether their claims are likely to be upheld, but certainly local voluntary organisations who are working with them tell me that many of these people have come from places like Syria where it is very likely that their applications will be upheld.

“It is a matter of profound unhappiness to me that our Government actually lacks the right to control these matters - that a UK Government that the people of Wales did not vote for, can impose this, both on the communities, on the public services and on most importantly the asylum seekers.

“I look to the day, one day, where perhaps we can make these decisions here, where it won’t be the Home Office making a request for planning permission to the Ministry of Defence.

“Be that as it may, until we can make those decisions for ourselves, it is right that the Welsh Government and others continue to negotiate with the Home Office to get these young men dispersed to communities that can properly support them and where their applications can be properly be dealt with, and that is clearly the consensus in this place, and we know the communities that we represent, and I submit that it is the consensus of the people of Wales,” she added.

When voted on by members, the motion on housing asylum seekers at the Penally military base was passed unamended.

There were 39 for, 15 abstentions and one against (Neil Hamilton).