Vietnamese people in the United Kingdom

Vietnamese British people (also British Vietnamese or Vietnamese Britons) are either citizens or non citizen immigrants in the United Kingdom of Vietnamese descent, they are part of the Việt Kiều.

History and settlement

Vietnamese immigration to the United Kingdom started after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, with the UK accepting refugees from Hong Kong, its former colony. Most early immigrants were refugee boat people fleeing persecution by the victorious communists, the rest were students, academics or business people. Vietnamese refugees initially found it fairly difficult to settle into a British lifestyle. Due to the fact that the Vietnamese British community was previously minute, the new wave of immigrants found it much harder to integrate than, say, in France or the United States where the Vietnamese populations were much larger. The early government policy of spreading newcomers thinly compounded matters by depriving them of vital mutual support. Many began gravitating towards larger cities such as London with the majority settling in the Lewisham (Vietnamese is the second most common language in the borough), Southwark and Hackney areas. The existence of much larger and more established overseas Chinese communities in the UK has had a significant though perhaps understated effect in helping the new immigrants setting roots in their new country.

Demographics

Population

The 2001 UK Census recorded 23,347 people born in Vietnam with over 65% of these originated in Northern Vietnam. According to the most recent estimates there are at least 55,000 people of Vietnamese origin living in England and Wales, out of this around 20,000 are thought to be undocumented migrants and 5,000 are temporary students.

Distribution

As with most emerging ethnic groups in the UK, the largest concentrations of Vietnamese people can be found in the larger metropolitan areas and cities, such as London (33,000), with the majority (around 1/3 of all Vietnamese Londoners) being located in Lewisham, Southwark and Hackney. Significant Vietnamese communities also exist in Birmingham (over 4,000), Leeds and Manchester (over 2,500).

Languages

Although the majority of the first Vietnamese immigrants to the UK spoke no English at all, second generation Vietnamese British people as well as more recent immigrants have a better understanding of the English language. It is unknown how many of the 55,000 Vietnamese people in the UK speak English as a primary or secondary language, but the Vietnamese language is the main language of some 22,000 Vietnamese people in the UK (around half of all Vietnamese people in the UK).

Religion

By far the most common religions for Vietnamese people in the UK are Buddhism and Roman Catholicism, which are followed by roughly 80% and 20% (respectively) of the total community's total population. This quite different from the actual religious breakdown of Vietnam, where 85% of the population is Buddhist and 7% are Roman Catholic.

Education and employment

Amongst the first Vietnamese refugees in the country, it was estimated that 76% received education below secondary school level. According to 2001 findings, only 18.7% of London's Vietnamese born population had higher level qualifications, which is 15% below the London average. Despite this, in the London borough of Lewisham, Vietnamese pupils along with Chinese and Indians outperformed all other ethnic groups, with Vietnamese girls being more successful than Vietnamese boys. The lack of formal education or recognised qualifications, along with the fact that the vast majority of people in the community originally not being able to speak much English, had meant that finding employment was very difficult (around 23.5% of London's Vietnamese born community of a working ages are unemployed). Over recent years, the nail industry has become the fastest growing business sector within the Vietnamese British community. It is thought that in London, over half of all Vietnamese owned businesses revolve around this industry.Catering remains a historically significant employer for the Vietnamese British community as a whole. Education and employment statistics for second generation Vietnamese Britons (i.e. British born people of Vietnamese origin) are largely uncollated.

Social issues

Lewisham in London is home to the UK's largest Vietnamese community, Vietnamese also prevails as the areas second most common language

Health

A PRIAE study in 2005 showed a high number of cases of osteoporosis and memory problems amongst elderly Vietnamese people in the UK. It is believed that the Vietnamese community in the UK finds it extremely difficult to gain access to the country's health services, the main reasons for this include unfamiliarity with the British health and social care sectors, Vietnamese cultural beliefs, financial difficulties, lack of sympathy and support from professionals, as well as many immigrants being incapable of speaking English or being able to understand it in written form.

Housing

A study by Refugee Action showed that during the years leading up to 1993, the majority of Vietnamese British people were concentrated in overcrowded local authority housing. More recent findings state the reasons for South East Asians in the UK requesting council housing as being because they were told to leave the family home, health/ medical issues and relationship breakdowns.