The First Minister for Wales Mark Drakeford has addressed the situation at Penally by stating this week at the Senedd that a military camp was not a ‘suitable place’ to house people who have fled from conflict and war.

The Home Office have confirmed this week that the occupation capacity of the site has been downscaled slightly from 250 to 234 males, to comply with Covid-19 regulations, stating that the majority of occupants being housed at the Penally site will be from Iran and Iraq.

Mr. Drakeford discussed the matter of asylum seekers being housed at the Military of Defence camp on Tuesday when responding to a question from Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Member of the Senedd Angela Burns who referred to the ‘shocking scenes’ outside the camp on Monday night when protestors against the move clashed with police.

Angela Burns stated: “We all know that the flow of people seeking asylum is building and I understand that the Home Office whilst facing a deluge needed to act quickly, but in my view mistakes have been made, and communication from the HO was very late in the day and very poor.

“I’ve put my concerns to the Home Secretary and to members of he HO that West Wales is not well suited to be a reception centre for asylum seekers to be processed, simply because we do not have at the moment the infrastructure or capacity to process people in a way that is fitting, dignified and respectful.”

Mr. Drakeford said that he shared many of the concerns, and had written to the Home Secretary over the weekend to specifically ask for a two week delay in the plan, in order that proper planning and proper services could be put in place, but said that unfortunately the reply he received denied that request

“A military camp is not a suitable place to house those people who have fled from conflict and war in other parts of the world,” remarked Mr. Drakeford.

“I’ve asked for assurances that funding will be provided to the local authority and local health board, as we are talking about relatively small rural authorities who have no capacity to deal from their own resources with the demand that are place upon them - but the reply was that the Home Office will not provide additional funding in connection with any of the accommodation that is provided for asylum seekers, so an absolute blanket refusal to provide any additional funds for PCC or Hywel Dda Health Board.”

Mr. Drakeford said that the response from the Home Secretary’s office which stated that a ‘communication plan is in progress’ was ‘nonsensical’ when there have been hundreds of people protesting already over the past few days.

“The Home Office did not put out a single line to reassure the local population, to explain why they are doing what they are doing.

“When there are people who through no decision of their own arrive in Wales then we want to make sure that they are well looked after and welcomed, but the way in which the Home Office has gone about its decision in relation to Penally, makes all of that far more difficult then it needed to have been.

“The general approach needs rapidly to improve in order to avoid the repetition of the scenes that we saw on Monday night and to make sure that the people who will be housed in that camp are able to be properly looked after, and the legitimate concerns of the local community that deserve to be properly addressed and communicated to them to draw them into the process, rather than simply being spectators of it,” he added.