Imposition upon the area by the Westminster government , but in my view it's to late to complain when most individuals have chosen governance from Westminster rather than Cardiff..you reap what you sow ..

The individuals from Afghanistan and Syria are fleeing a war that was started and fuelled by the west...we expected Afghanistan individuals to spy on their own people , which put themselves and their family's life in potential danger, and then left them 

I wonder the next time British and NATO forces go into a country whether the people will think ...to hell with them , they won't give a damn when they leave , so I think I won't put myself and family at risk for their sake ...

It's a situation that most people don't think through , but here's another thought 

If the protesters against oil are correct , then the northern European countries need to prepare for an exodus of people from India and Africa and Asia ..looking for a new home as temperatures climb and large areas of the planet become uninhabitable ....just a thought for now but our children and grandchildren may have different views on us in the future 

Hard to believe though at SPH that neither the new buyers or home office actually checked the deeds?

In the meantime as this debacle drags on , where will these immigrants be staying now?  and what will the new owners and home office do next?

families.

no I worded it wrong. I'm trying to say the bigger(powerful) countries e.g. UK, France, Germany not the likes of Montenegro like I said earlier I maybe wrong.

I'm sure you were supporting the protesters yesterday , my MAGA friend 

Half of them were youngsters where it was just a part time job. The people in this town moan and whinge when places open out of town and it seems they don’t have the brains to comprehend jobs come with it. People are obsessed with slating out of town shops and things like Eastgate. They’ve created hundreds of jobs. 95 jobs go and people are up in arms. They don’t appreciate the 100s that have been created. 

On BBC news tonight a lot of sense was spoken by the "Hope not Hate " spokesperson, who were holding a supportive gathering in Park Howard.

He echoed my feelings ,that the community of Furnace were right to be alarmed, due the total lack of consultation by the Home Office, either with WAG or the local authority.

The very fact that a large number of individuals are placed in one place , without any clear infrastructure  plan.

To add to the woe, this leads to the loss of local jobs at the hotel. Any loss of jobs is a bad thing.

The better option, with better consultation, would be sensibly disperse the refugees sensibly, which could have been done better through the local authority.

What "Hope and not Hate" spokesperson", also said was that we need to continue this ongoing  dialogue, without acrimony, which I think is sensible, even allowing for the fact that this is a highly charged and emotive situation.

Its is unclear, how long the refugees will stay, and whether they will be restricted to the hotel, which a lot of people have already raised a concern about.

If the Home Office got its act together, and processed arrivals in the UK rapidly, we wouldn't be in this situation.

Its obvious, in the response to Covid, by the creation of "Field hospitals" that when the Government wants to do something, it can usually do so, and rapidly.

There needs to be a huge surge in the employment of border force staff, both patrolling the channel, and processing those who arrive.

Instead of this Braverman hatches a madcap plan to send them to a dubious place like Rwanda, which has now proved illegal, by our courts

With better organisation, its clear that that some economic migrants can return from whence they came, allowing for those fleeing persecution and terror ,to be properly looked after here , both in the short term ,before their longer term futures are decided.

Wales has a good track record of being generous and welcoming, particularly for those in need.

If this shoddy government acts fairly and does the right thing, it will encourage people to again act with compassion and care, and to support those who most need our help 

There’s loads of hotels in Llanelli. Better value as well. I’d say it’s wedding wise is gonna have the biggest impact. There’s plenty of other places offering function rooms, spas and a restaurant. 

Theres nowwhere near enough hotel rooms and none offer what the SPH does

In fact the scarlets themselves stated 1 reason they dont offer concerts and events is because therees not enough hotel rooms in the town to accomodate their guests

Just rooms? What were the Stradey park rooms? It’s 74 less rooms. You mean to tell me Llanelli’s hotels are chock a block every week? Rubbish. There’s at least 6 hotels in Llanelli. There’s other places can have functions. 

"Room at the Inn".

The preamble,.asks,  whether Welsh towns are equipped  to support  large numbers of asylum seekers. 

The term I hate is ‘the illegals’ they’re asylum seekers and perfectly entitled to come. The irony is by not coming to the hotel they’d be illegal. 

Thomas arms, EJs, Selwyn Samuel, Diplomat and PYS. 

It’s UN law. Matters sweet fa about any kind of political party. Every country has to adhere to it. 

Russia , china , Belarus and nk have opted out of it , and the Tories want the UK to do the same 

Don't go inviting the bits you don't like , we all know what you are normally like , economical with the truth 

https://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/uk-illegal-migration-bill-un-refugee-agency-and-un-human-rights-office-warn" rel="nofollow - https://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/uk-illegal-migration-bill-un-refugee-agency-and-un-human-rights-office-warn

It was apparently, pretty quickly how inappropriate the accommodation at Stradey Park Hotel is going to be, particularly, as it no longer an hotel. Its not best for the community ,or the refugees.

neither are served well by these Home Office proposals.

I thought Robert Lloyd , the spokesperson, for the local protest group, spoke really well.

Sensible, balanced and rational.

He mentioned , as I did in my last post of Wales and Llanelli's proud record of welcoming immigrants,

So many from Italy, settled here after the war, and more recently and influx of polish, Philippine and Ukrainian.

Many of these people have made a huge impact and contribution ton the fabric of welsh life.

My next door neighbours are Polish and are a fabulous family. The three adults all work in low paid jobs, working quite long hours.

My barber Sam, (opposite the bus station)is a Syrian, from Homs. He could see what Assad was doing and fled with his family, while he could !  His brother and parents stayed , but the likelihood of him seeing them again, in person, is slim. He started working here for another hairdresser , but he bought the guy out and now the business is thriving, he's  employing others.

Robert Lloyd also mentioned that he has tried to speak to the the management of the Stradey park Hotel, hoping to find some answers, which the community is entitled to.

Absolutely zero response from them, which is shocking.

 The way the home office and this firm operate undermines the very essence of what should be happening, which is transparency, communication and wholesale cooperation, between government, local authorities and local communities, to make the most of a difficult situation, while the asylum applications are assessed.

On top of that , to have sacked local people and undermined an important business in the west wales economy is a disgrace!

I will finish with a little tale of immigration and something which happened 17 years ago.

In 2006 ,my family and were on holiday in Croatia. part of the holiday was to enjoy the cultural and historical elements of places like Dubrovnik . part of the that holiday we travelled around to other regions, like Montenegro and Bosnia.

While on the way to Mostar , a place shattered by the futility of war, we met Lucca , a Bosnian Croat.

We knew what had happened at Srebrenica(8,000 men and boys slaughtered), but Lucca took us to a place where people from his village ,men women, and even children, were rounded up and shot.

The surviving women in hiding were raped , and then shot.

The incident had a profound effect on me ,and made me consider the wider implications who we are are in the wider scheme of things, and our humanity and commitment to other human beings and all living things.

The sting in the tale (tail), is interesting. Years later , I was recovering from prostate cancer surgery, and the consultant came to talk to me. We had had chatted , prior to surgery, but basic stuff, about what was going to happen. Afterwards he told me his family were from Blatnica, , 15 miles from Mostar and had fled the war, when he was quite young, eventually coming to the UK. Many others in his family perished

This man probably saved my life, so I need to thankful to an immigration, and some of the wonderful people it has brought to this country 

Re the Stradey Park Hotel, is it still planning to go ahead with taking in the refugees or does the breach of its planning permissions prevent that and it’s gone from not being a hotel to not being anything, apart from needing to be turned back into a hotel?

It appears that the spending spree started during covid continues with very little control being exercised by those in responsibility. Surely the buck stops with the Home Secretary & the Chancellor. 

Good point RR, I totally agree.These places are worse now, than before the conflicts,unstable, lawless. Living under tyrants must have been awful, but as long as you kept your mouth shut it was " safe" , in the general sense. I have met people from Libya, who have told me this, I think its the same in Iraq.

This of course has no direct link to the Stradey Park Hotel, and I do no want to move the thread away from the core focus.

We need to understand  however,  what people are facing , and why so many are risking their lives  and the lives of their children,  in perilous  waters, sometimes in the most treacherous  conditions,  in boats totally  unsuitable .

You are not going to stop the boats coming , whatever madcap Braverman,  and weakling Sunak plan.

We need to be better prepared,  and working with greater commitment, with the French to  crack down on the illegal traffickers ,

difficult  though it may be.

By sifting through with greater speed, who is a genuine asylum seeker, and whom is an economic migrants is essential. 

It could be that economic migrants  are given short term employment visa's to help tye labour market, picking fruit, us currently  a massive headache,  in the South east, but therecother things too.

Asylum seekers are in  a different  category,  and their short and long term future is assessed  using other criteria, such their their safety, and where they have come from.

This is a hugely  complex issue, where language  and emotion  can get out of hand.

What we cannot have in Llanelli  is far right groups,  many from outside  the area hijacking the situation  for their own racist agena, filled with vitriol and hate.

Local people in Furnace however, righly have concerns,  and these should  be addressed by the home office, and they are not ATM.

The situation  has been handled  badly.

Come on SA give him a break. I have to strongly disagree with your unreasonable personal attack on Rob Lloyd.Rob is a democrat and a decent man and he doesn’t own “ his group “ . He is the facilitator. I know he dislikes the zealots and has been trying to keep some sort of focus in the opposition. He’s only just back in action after a heart attack and months out of action. If I was him I would let others get on with the stress of it. His experience as a newspaper man and PR man has been invaluable and he is just an unpaid volunteer remember. The only thing I think we may agree with is that he is possibly too tolerant of the zealots but frankly,he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t ! He’s stepped up and done his best. The villains here are the Home Office and hotel owners.

I do'nt do any social media, other than SF, so have no idea what's been said, and to be honest I do'nt want to know.

I agree with Reesy, however, the villains here are the Home Office and Hotel owners.

Robert Lloyd , as I mentioned in my previous post,  spoke well, rationally, and sensibly on the ITV programme this week. 

I think he spoke for a number of ordinary concerned Furnace residents.

If there are far right zealots latching on to local protest  groups that's another matter.

These people hold repugnant views, which are racist, and in some cases what they is illegal, by stoking the fire of racial hatred.

We heed to keep level heads at this difficult  time, and speak with one voice against what Braverman  and Co are cooking up.

They are doing our town a disservice. We don't need these parasites spreading fear and lies.

Well said Thommo!

Similarly,  we do'nt need the parasites running the hotel.