Vietnamese people in the United Kingdom

Ethnic group
group=Vietnamese British


caption=
poptime= 23,347 Vietnamese-born (2001) [ [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/23/34792376.xls Vietnamese people and ancestry in the UK] ]
popplace=London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester
langs=English, Vietnamese, Vinish and various other Languages of Vietnam
rels=Primarily Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, with some Roman Catholicism
related=Vietnamese people, Overseas Vietnamese, East Asian British

Vietnamese British people 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

Mass Vietnamese immigration to the UK started after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, with the UK being one of only six countries accepting refugees. Early immigrants were refugee boat people fleeing persecution by the victorious communists, as well as students, academics and businesspeople. Vietnamese refugees found it fairly difficult to settle in to a British life style, and due to the fact that the Vietnamese British community was previously minute, the new wave of immigrants found it much harder to mix in with than say France or the United States. Many came to the major cities such as London with the majority settling in the Hackney area.

Recently, the Vietnamese in Britain have rose to prominence in the British press due to criminal cannabis-growing activities. Some recent economic immigrants also engage in gang and human trafficking. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3965035.stm
title=Vietnam's new UK migrants
date=2004-10-29
accessdate=2007-12-17
publisher=BBC
author=Nga Pham]

Population and distribution

The 2001 UK Census recorded 23,347 Vietnamese born people. The Vietnamese British community although similar culturally to other East Asian British communities, does not follow the trend of being the largest such community (i.e. Chinese, Filipino, Thai) in Europe. As with most emmerging ethnic groups in the UK, the largest concentrations of Vietnamese people can be found in the larger metropolitan areas and cities, such as London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/vietnamese-boat-people-came-to-britain-for-a-new-life-they-found-unemployment-and-despair-727739.html Vietnamese boat people in the UK] ] .

Famous Vietnamese Britons

* Jane March, actress The Lover (Vietnamese/Chinese mother)

External Links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/05/26/vietnamese_london_feature.shtml Vietnamese London]
* [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/union/socs/vietnamese/ The Vietnamese Society in Leeds]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2006/10/12/vietnamese_buddhist_temple_opening_feature.shtml BBC Vietnamese in Birmingham]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=13347&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=5359 Vietnamese people in Birmingham]

Bibliography

* Mai Sims, Jessica: "The Vietnamese Community in Great Britain - Thirty Years On" [http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/TheVietnameseCommunity-2007.pdf]

References