Covid Chronicles: Protests at Penally camp in Pembrokeshire

Repeated protests were held at Penally camp in Pembrokshire in 2020. Asylum-seeker residents compare it to a prison. The former Ministry of Defence camp was repurposed to house up to asylum seekers. One of our researchers who wishes to remain anonymous has visited the camp several times to translate for a resident who is experiencing severe mental health problems. He says the men describe the conditions are described as “unbearable” and overcrowding means that social distancing is impossible. Penally has been a magnet for far right mobilisation from across the UK to protest at asylum-seekers living locally. But our researcher says that local people have been more concerned about the protests themselves which required some 70 police officers a day at the peak.

This material is part of the Covid Chronicles from the Margins project, funded by The Open University and the International Institute of Social Studies in the Hague. The project aims to highlight the impact of the pandemic on refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. 

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2020年，彭布罗克郡的彭尼利营地连续发生抗议活动。寻求庇护的居民将其比作监狱。原国防部的营地被改造成容纳寻求庇护者的场所。我们的一名研究人员（希望保持匿名）曾数次访问营地，为一位正遭受严重心理健康问题的居民提供翻译服务。他表示，男性居民将那里的条件描述为“难以忍受”，而拥挤的状况使得保持社交距离成为不可能。彭尼利营地已成为英国极右翼势力聚集之地，以抗议当地居住的寻求庇护者。然而，我们的研究人员指出，当地居民对抗议活动本身更为关注，高峰时段每天需要约70名警察维持秩序。

本资料系《疫情边缘的编年史》项目的一部分，该项目由开放大学和国际社会研究所在海牙资助，旨在凸显疫情对难民、寻求庇护者和无证移民的影响。

此项目内容可在我们的网站上找到。