- TWO PROTESTORS HAVE BLOCKED THE FRONT OF A HOME OFFICE BUILDING IN CARDIFF TO PROTEST THE WORSENING CONDITIONS INSIDE PENALLY REFUGEE CAMP NEAR TENBY.
- THE ACTIVISTS DEMAND THAT THE FACILITY MUST BE “SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY”
- THE EX-MOD CAMP HAS SEEN THOSE INSIDE LIVING IN SQAULOR AND TREATED LIKE PRISONERS, SERVED UNCOOKED FOOD, REGULAR BLOCKED TOILETS AND HARRASMENT BY SECURITY GUARDS.
Activists highlighting the plight of refugees living in the dire conditions of the Penally refugee camp have blockaded a Home Office building in Cardiff today.
Penally camp, near Tenby, has been the site of numerous protests over the unsanitary and decrepit living conditions within the repurposed Army barracks. Refugees themselves have recently taken to the streets of Tenby to demand an end to the inhumane conditions.
Protestors outside the Home Office building today called for refugees to be treated with dignity by the state and moved out of the unsafe facility immediately.
Activist Jenny Roberts said: “Penally Camp must be shut down immediately, and suitable accommodation and support provided to help new migrants integrate and become active citizens.”
“Not to do this is a failure in the statutory duty on the part of the Home Office. This concept of using ex military camps to house refugees is a proven failure. No more camps!”
A second activist, Lois Davis, is protesting in support of welcoming refugees escaping war: “Wales has a proud culture of welcoming guests. These people seek only the opportunity to live a normal life and contribute to our society.”
“This is being denied to them by the Home Office, which prefers to keep them in a state of purgatory, not knowing if and when they can begin to study, work and get on with their lives. This further compounds the trauma they have been trying to escape.”
Conditions inside the camp have prompted the refugees inside to form their own union, Camp Residents of Penally (CROP), to stand up to camp officials and demand that they be treated with dignity.
In September 2020 First Minister Mark Drakeford also weighed in on the issue: “A military camp is not a suitable place to house people who have fled from conflict and war in other parts of the world.”
“Wales is a nation of sanctuary. 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.”
Unfortunately, the site has also become a focal point for the far right and fascist groups, opposed by local anti-racism groups.
The site has also served as a backdrop for far-right figures like Neil Hamilton, Neo-Nazis in Patriotic Alternative, and Voice of Wales, who rail against non-white immigration and recently invite US white supremacists the Proud Boys onto their You Tube channel. .
Clearsprings is the contractor-tycoon behind the degradation at Penally and has profited millions of pounds from the ever-worsening conditions that asylum seekers in the camp are having to suffer.
In December 2020, voice.wales revealed the horror of living inside the camp via emails seen by voice between residents and the camp operator, including a “hostile” environment by “antagonistic” staff.
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