by Bethany Rielly

THE closure of an ex-military barracks in Wales has been hailed as a “massive victory” for asylum-seekers and their supporters, but calls remain for the Home Office to shut down all camps. 

On Tuesday, Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said the Home Office had agreed to return Penally camp in Pembrokeshire to the Ministry of Defence by Sunday with the remaining asylum-seekers gradually moved out before then. 

It comes after an independent inspection of the Penally site, as well as Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, found that they were both “impoverished, run-down and unsuitable for long-term accommodation.”

However the Home Office confirmed that Napier will “remain in operation in accordance with current needs,” despite closing Penally. 

The decision follows months of pressure on the department to close the barracks, where hundreds of asylum-seekers have been held since September. 

Stand up to Racism West Wales said that the decision is a “massive victory” for the men in the barracks who “despite having to endure appalling conditions in the camp effectively organised themselves to resist their inhumane treatment by the Home Office.” 

“This is also a victory for the lawyers, the supportive journalists, the refugee support organisations, the campaigners and all those who protested tirelessly to free the men from this ‘living hell’,” the group said in a statement. 

In October asylum-seekers in Penally formed a union with the aim of applying pressure on the Home Office to close the camps. 

Former chair of the Camp Residents of Penally (CROP) union, Saleh [name changed to protect the person’s identity] told the Morning Star that many of the residents “had reached the edge” after spending many months at the site. 

“We were very worried about them, [whether] they can keep holding together, so this news is really … we feel very happy for them.”

But he added: “Closing the camp is the battle, it’s very good news, but it is not the end of the war unfortunately.”  

Freedom from Torture’s director of survivor empowerment Kolbassia Haoussou said that the Home Office “must also now close Napier Barracks, which remains open despite repeated warnings of the life-threatening conditions inside.”

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP said that the failures of the Home Office over Penally “must not be brushed under the carpet.” 

“We now need binding guarantees that a situation like this can never happen again.” 

A Home Office spokesperson said that the department decided not to extend emergency planning permission beyond six months because the “pressures put on the asylum estate” during the pandemic have “eased.”