Welsh villagers mistake Scottish teens at summer Scout camp for asylum seekers
Furious Welsh villagers wrongly believed a group of Scottish teenagers at a summer camp were asylum seekers, sparking a wave of online abuse that police are investigating.
Villagers in the town of Newbridge mistakenly believed the accents of a group of more than 30 teenagers at a Scout camp belonged to asylum seekers.
They had travelled more than 400 miles to the CRAI Scout Activity Park in south Wales for their summer camping trip.
Police were forced to intervene after an online video alleged to show “immigrants” being moved into the camp in Caerphilly.
The clip, posted on Facebook, was flooded with abusive comments and fake claims that Gwent Police were guarding the area.
The video was removed after police were alerted – with Scout leaders warned over a “racially aggravated incident targeting under-18s”.
Some of that online abuse is now under investigation for racist offences, police confirmed.
Temporary Chief Superintendent Jason White, of Gwent Police, said: “We’re aware of several posts responding to a social media video published earlier this week in relation to a visiting Scouts group to Newbridge.
“The video was removed but some of the posts contained inappropriate and offensive language and enquiries into the nature of the posts are ongoing.
“While that work takes place, there are some mis-truths circulating on social media which we’d like to correct.
“The group featured in the video were visiting from another part of the country to attend a frequently used Scout camp in Newbridge and many of the people in the video are children.
“The site is not used to house anyone on a permanent basis. The site is used by our dog handlers to train our police dogs when not used for visits and our officers are not guarding the location.
“So with that in mind, we’re asking everyone to consider the tone and sentiment of their language but also for people to think twice about what they might read online and look for trusted voices within our communities.”
Scouts Cymru said: “CRAI Scout Activity Park is an inclusive and welcoming campsite and activity centre in the South Wales Valleys offering a range of outdoor activities for youth and community groups.
“We are aware of a racially aggravated incident targeting under-18s who were leaving after visiting our activity centre and are working closely with the police to address this situation.
“We are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone on site and will continue to take immediate and robust action against any behaviour that threatens this.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
