News

No one wants a ‘concentration camp’ for asylum seekers in Penally

Published

5 years ago

September 26, 2020

A COUNTY COUNCILLOR is slamming the Home Office for creating a “concentration camp” in Pembrokeshire.

Cllr Paul Dowson says that putting people in huts behind barbed wire fences against their will, against the will of the people of Pembrokeshire, and against the will of community and religious leaders of all faiths “is nothing short of barbaric, is immoral and is probably unlawful.”

His words come as a letter sent by leaders at Pembrokeshire Council and Hywel Dda University Health Board, along with local faith leaders, to the Secretary of State for the Home Department is stating that proper consultation would have made it ‘immediately clear’ that Penally was not suitable for an asylum seeker camp.

‘It is unprecedented in Wales that people seeking asylum are ‘cohorted’ together in such a large number in unsuitable accommodation. We have real concerns that they are being moved out of rented accommodation within the Wales refugee support network.’, the letter states.

Demo to support asylum seekers in Penally (Photo Herald)

The letter shows community leaders are for supporting those in need of asylum, but not in unsuitable accommodation. The letter goes on to say: “We are keen to hold out the hand of friendship to those in need but we are also aware of the feelings of local residents and are keen to maintain a sense of ‘community cohesion.”

More protests took place in Penally on Saturday (Sept 26). At 11am those supporting the asylum seekers, around 70 in number, gathered holding colourful banners and placards.

The Liberal Democrats, Welsh Labour, and unions were all represented. There were several photographers from national, regional and local press as well as a BBC camera crew and documentary film makes from London present. During the demonstration which lasted for about an hour and a half speeches were made by Jim Scott (People’s Assembly Wales), Alistair Cameron (Lib Dem) and Marc Tierney (Labour). There were a similar number of anti-asylum seeker protestors on the other side of a line of police – holding banners, and signs. They moved to the main gate once the other protestors had left.

At 1pm they held one minute’s silence for Matiu Ratana, the New Zealand born police officer who was shot at a police station in London on Friday.

Cllr Paul Dowson was at the protest he said that he was there to support the voice of the real people of Pembrokeshire who were against the camp being used for asylum seekers. Cllr Dowson called for all sides to join together as one voice.

“We have to stop this concentration camp from being in operation. Everyone has got the same goal. Today we saw two groups of people from our community separated by a line of police officers. But why do we need to be separated. Every single person here, on both sides, does not think that this camp is suitable for asylum seekers. The council thinks the same, the police think the same, the health board thinks the same, the church leaders think the same.

“We have seen people in the camp shout that they are being kept against their will and want freedom.”

“People may think that calling this a concentration camp is harsh – but the legal definition is a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms. That is exactly what is happening here.”

“I will be doing what I can to get all sides together to form one voice for Pembrokeshire – one united people to turn up the pressure on Westminster to get these poor people moved out of our county to somewhere more suitable, so Penally can get back to normal, and so Pembrokeshire people can breathe easy again.”

Below is the full letter sent to the Home Secretary.

The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP
Home Secretary
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Dear Home Secretary

We are writing to you to express our concern about the decision to relocate asylum seekers in Penally, Pembrokeshire. We are particularly disappointed by the lack of communication and discussion with local stakeholders such as Pembrokeshire County Council and Hywel Dda University Health Board and the local community.

Proper consultation would have immediately made it clear that Penally Camp is unsuitable accommodation, particularly for men who may have experienced trauma, great hardship and have been separated from their families. The buildings are in a poor condition, in a rural location with one village shop and no established support network. It is unprecedented in Wales that people seeking asylum are ‘cohorted’ together in such a large number in unsuitable accommodation. We have real concerns that they are being moved out of rented accommodation within the Wales refugee support network.

We have four dispersal centres in Wales: Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham. These areas have well- established infrastructures to welcome and care for asylum seekers. Accommodation, health, pastoral and cultural care and legal advice are readily available and funded in these areas No such infrastructure or funding exists in Pembrokeshire. It is our opinion that this decision is wrong both for our local community and for the welfare of these men who are seeking sanctuary in our Country.
Pembrokeshire is a warm, welcoming county and we can assure you that those who live here would be only too keen to show their compassion for those who have suffered greatly. Sadly, the way in which this sensitive issue has been handled can only have added to their trauma and given them the wrong impression of the area in which we live.
It has also created a sense of fear and uncertainty among those who live here.
We are keen to hold out the hand of friendship to those in need but we are also aware of the feelings of local residents and are keen to maintain a sense of ‘community cohesion.’ If there had been a more considered and caring approach, we would not have witnessed the ugly scenes that took place outside the camp last Monday (21st September 2020).

It is vital that all stakeholders be involved in any future decisions. We need no ‘winners’ and losers. We will all lose if we do not move together. We will do all we can to support both the local community and the asylum seekers you intend to place here, but we ask you to listen to our real concerns and reverse your decision.

Yours sincerely

Cllr David Simpson: Leader, Pembrokeshire County Council
Ian Westley: Chief Executive, Pembrokeshire County Council
Maria Battle: Chair, Hywel Dda University Health Board
Steve Moore: Chief Executive, Hywel Dda University Health Board
Angela Burns MS: Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
Cllr Jonathan Preston: Pembrokeshire County Council (Penally)
Reverend Rob James: Church Moderator, Deer Park Baptist Church, Tenby
Reverend Stella Hayton: Minister St John’s Methodist and United Reformed Church in Tenby and United Reform Churches in Pembroke, Templeton and Reynalton
Reverend Michael Bave: Bethel Baptist Church, Pembroke Dock
Father Mansel Usher: Holyrood and St Teilo’s Catholic Church Tenby and St Brides Saundersfoot
Father Matt Roche-Saunders: St David & St Patrick Catholic Church, Haverfordwest
Father Liam Bradley: St David and St Patrick Catholic Church, Haverfordwest
Abdul Haseeb Hussain: Imam Hamad Bin Khalifa Islamic Centre, Milford Haven
Dr Baba M Gana: Chairman, West Wales Islamic Cultural Association
Euryl Howells: Senior Chaplin, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Health

Resident doctors in Wales vote to accept new contract

Published

26 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

RESIDENT doctors across Wales have voted to accept a new contract, with 83% of those who took part in a referendum backing the agreement, according to BMA Cymru Wales.

The contract includes a four per cent additional investment in the resident doctor workforce and introduces a range of reforms aimed at improving training conditions, wellbeing and long-term workforce sustainability within NHS Wales. The BMA says the deal also supports progress towards pay restoration, which remains a central issue for doctors.

Key changes include new safeguards to limit the most fatiguing working patterns, measures intended to address medical unemployment and career progression concerns, and reforms to study budgets and study leave to improve access to training opportunities.

Negotiations between the BMA’s Welsh Resident Doctors Committee, NHS Wales Employers and the Welsh Government concluded earlier this year. Following a consultation period, a referendum of resident doctors and final-year medical students in Wales was held, resulting in a clear majority in favour of the proposals.

Welsh Resident Doctors Committee chair Dr Oba Babs Osibodu said the agreement marked a significant step forward for doctors working in Wales.

He said: “We’re proud to have negotiated this contract, which offers our colleagues and the future generation of doctors safer terms of service, fairer pay, and better prospects so that they can grow and develop their careers in Wales.

“This contract will help to retain the doctors already in training, and also attract more doctors to work in Wales, where they can offer their expertise and benefit patients.”

Dr Osibodu added that the BMA remains committed to achieving full pay restoration and acknowledged that challenges remain for some doctors.

“Whilst this contract sets the foundations for a brighter future for resident doctors in Wales, we recognise that there are still doctors who are struggling to develop their careers and secure permanent work,” he said. “We need to work with the Welsh Government and NHS employers to address training bottlenecks and underemployment.”

The Welsh Government has previously said it recognises the pressures facing resident doctors and the importance of improving recruitment and retention across NHS Wales, while also highlighting the need to balance pay agreements with wider NHS funding pressures and patient demand.

The new contract is expected to be phased in from August 2026. It will initially apply to doctors in foundation programmes, those in specialty training with unbanded rotas, and new starters, before being rolled out to all resident doctors across Wales.

Crime

Swansea man jailed for online child sex offence dies in prison

Published

37 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man who was jailed earlier this year for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child has died while in custody.

Gareth Davies, aged 59, of the Maritime Quarter, was serving an 18-month prison sentence after being convicted in May of sending sexually explicit messages to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl. The account was in fact a decoy used as part of an online safeguarding operation.

The court heard that Davies began communicating with the decoy between November and December 2024 and persistently pursued the individual, later attempting to arrange a face-to-face meeting. He was arrested after being confronted by the decoy operators.

Davies had pleaded not guilty but was convicted following a trial. At the time of sentencing, police described the messages as extremely concerning and said his imprisonment was necessary to protect children.

It has now been confirmed that Davies died at HMP Parc on Wednesday (Nov 27) while serving his sentence.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched an independent investigation into the death, which is standard procedure in all cases where someone dies in custody. No cause of death has been released at this stage.

A coroner will determine the circumstances in due course.

Farming

Welsh Conservatives warn climate plans could mean fewer livestock on Welsh farms

Published

42 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH CONSERVATIVES have challenged the Welsh Government over climate change policies they say could lead to reductions in livestock numbers across Wales, raising concerns about the future of Welsh farming.

The row follows the Welsh Government’s decision, alongside Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats, to support the UK Climate Change Committee’s Fourth Carbon Budget, which sets out the pathway towards Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Carbon Budget, produced by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), states that meeting Net Zero targets will require a reduction in agricultural emissions, including changes to land use and, in some scenarios, a reduction in livestock numbers.

During questioning in the Senedd, the Welsh Conservatives pressed the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs on whether the Welsh Government supports reducing livestock numbers as part of its climate strategy.

Speaking after the exchange, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Samuel Kurtz MS, said the Welsh Government could not distance itself from the implications of the policy it had backed.

Mr Kurtz said: “By voting in favour of these climate change regulations, Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have signed up to the UK Climate Change Committee’s call to cut livestock numbers in Wales, and they cannot dodge that reality.

“The Deputy First Minister’s smoke-and-mirrors answers only confirm what farmers already fear: that Labour, along with their budget bedfellows in Plaid and the Lib Dems, are prepared to sacrifice Welsh agriculture in pursuit of climate targets.”

He added that the issue came at a time of growing pressure on the farming sector, pointing to uncertainty over the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme, the ongoing failure to eradicate bovine TB, nitrogen pollution regulations under the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), and proposed changes to inheritance tax rules affecting family farms.

The Welsh Government has repeatedly said it does not have a target to forcibly reduce livestock numbers and has argued that future emissions reductions will come through a combination of improved farming practices, environmental land management, and changes in land use agreed with farmers.

Ministers have also said the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which is due to replace the Basic Payment Scheme, is intended to reward farmers for food production alongside environmental outcomes, rather than remove land from agriculture.

The UK Climate Change Committee, which advises governments across the UK, has stressed that its pathways are based on modelling rather than fixed quotas, and that devolved governments have flexibility in how targets are met.

However, farming unions and rural groups in Wales have warned that policies focused on emissions reduction risk undermining the viability of livestock farming, particularly in upland and marginal areas where alternatives to grazing are limited.

The debate highlights the growing tension between climate targets and food production in Wales, with livestock farming remaining a central part of the rural economy and Welsh cultural identity.

As discussions continue over the final shape of the Sustainable Farming Scheme and Wales’ long-term climate plans, pressure is mounting on the Welsh Government to reassure farmers that climate policy will not come at the expense of the sector’s survival.