Controversial Welsh asylum camp to be closed soon by Home Office

A controversial asylum camp in Wales is going to be closed soon, it has been revealed.

There have been repeated calls for the Home Office to shut down the Penally camp for asylum seekers in Pembrokeshire, because of reports that men being held in the former army barracks are living in “unsuitable” conditions.

The Home Office has said that asylum seekers will be moved out of the camp and it will be closed within days, and that the facility will be now be returned to the Ministry of Defence.

Inspectors recently branded the Penally camp as “filthy” and “impoverished” after carrying out an inspection of conditions as well as at the Napier Barracks in Kent.

Since the camp opened at the former military barracks in Penally in September last year, around 250 men have been housed there as they waited for their asylum claims to be processed.

The Home Office has contacted the local authority and partner agencies to notify them all the men will be moved to alternative accommodation by March 21.

It’s understood the number of men has already been gradually reduced and that there are between 50 and 60 remaining there.

Over recent months pressure has been building to find alternative accommodation for the men after protests were held by those living inside the camp, including from Dafydd Llywelyn, the Plaid Cymru Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys, who said that he’d asked Chris Philp, Minister for Immigration Compliance,  about any closure plans when they met.