View source for Vietnamese people in the United Kingdom

{{Short description|Ethnic group}}{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Outdated|date=August 2024}}
{{Factual accuracy disputed|date=August 2024}}
}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group=Vietnamese in the United Kingdom<br/>Người Việt tại Vương quốc Anh
|image=
|caption=
|population='''Ethnic Vietnamese:'''<br/>37,458 (England and Wales only, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=TS:002 Ethnic group (detailed) |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS022/editions/2021/versions/2/filter-outputs/41d3c99d-976d-4553-858a-af16bc85554b?f=get-data#ethnic_group_288a |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=30 January 2023}}</ref><br/>'''Born in Vietnam'''<br/>28,000 (2014 ONS estimate)
|popplace=[[London]], [[Birmingham]], [[Leeds]], [[Manchester]]
|langs=[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], [[British English]]
|rels=Primarily [[Vietnamese folk religion]], [[Mahayana Buddhism]], [[Confucianism]], with some [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
|related=[[Vietnamese people]], [[Vietnamese people in France]], [[Overseas Vietnamese]], [[Southeast Asians in the United Kingdom]]
}}
{{Lists of British people}}
'''Vietnamese people in the United Kingdom''' or '''Vietnamese Britons''' ({{Langx|vi|Người Việt tại Vương quốc Anh}}) include [[British nationality law|British citizens]] and non-citizen [[Immigration|immigrants]] and expatriates of full or partial [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] ancestry living in the [[United Kingdom]]. They form a part of the worldwide [[Vietnamese diaspora]].
==History and settlement==
Vietnamese immigration to the United Kingdom started during WW2 but more significant numbers immigrated after the end of the [[Vietnam War]] in 1975.  The UK only accepted a few hundred of the first wave of refugees who were fleeing from the victorious [[North Vietnam|North Vietnamese]].  However, more than twenty thousand were accepted of a later wave of refugees who left Vietnam following the growing hostilities and border war between China and Vietnam. The hostilities with China resulted in many ethnic Chinese being forced out from Northern Vietnam.  As a result the Vietnamese that came to the UK in that period are predominantly of ethnic Chinese background.<ref name=RM/> The Vietnamese Mental Health Services, citing old reports from the 80s or 90s, identified the inability to speak  English or being able to understand it in written form as an obstacle to gaining access to health services.<ref name="RM" /> A study by Refugee Action showed that during the years leading up to 1993, the majority of Vietnamese British people were in local authority housing.<ref name="RM" />
==Demographics==
===Population===
The [[2001 United Kingdom census|2001 UK Census]] recorded 23,347 people born in Vietnam,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/23/34792376.xls|title=Country-of-birth database|publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|accessdate=9 November 2024|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511105416/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/23/34792376.xls|archivedate=11 May 2005}}</ref> with over 65% of these originated in [[Northern Vietnam]].{{cn|date=November 2024}} A study published in 2007 reported that community organisations estimated that there were at least 55,000 Vietnamese in England and Wales, and that 20,000 of these people were undocumented migrants and at least 5,000 were overseas students.<ref name=RM/> The Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2014, 28,000 people born in Vietnam were resident in the UK.<ref>{{ONSCoB2014|access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref>
===Distribution===
As with most emerging ethnic groups in the UK, the largest concentrations of Vietnamese people can be found in the larger [[Metropolitan area|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 [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]].<ref name=RM/> Significant Vietnamese communities also exist in [[Birmingham]] (over 4,000), [[Leeds]] and [[Manchester]] (over 2,500).<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.niace.org.uk/bpln/downloadable_documents/Meeting%20the%20needs%20of%20Vietnamese%20adult%20learners.ppt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009193759/http://www.niace.org.uk/bpln/downloadable_documents/Meeting%20the%20needs%20of%20Vietnamese%20adult%20learners.ppt |archive-date=2007-10-09 |title=Meeting the needs of Vietnamese adult learners |publisher=National Institute of Adult Continuing Education |access-date=2012-06-15}}</ref>
According to the 2011 census, the cities with the most Vietnam-born residents are London (15,337), Birmingham (1,479), Manchester (865), Nottingham (405), Leeds (374), Northampton (322), Cambridge (259), Newcastle upon Tyne (245), Bristol (220) and Leicester (202).
===Languages===
Although the majority of the first Vietnamese immigrants to the UK spoke no [[English language|English]] at all, second generation Vietnamese descendants as well as more recent immigrants have a better understanding of the English language.<ref name=RM/> According to '' [[Ethnologue]]'', Vietnamese is the main language of 15,200 UK residents.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Languages of the United Kingdom|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB|publisher=SIL International|access-date=2012-06-15}}</ref>
===Religion===
By far the most common religions for Vietnamese people in the UK are [[Buddhism]] and [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]], which are followed by roughly 80% and 20% (respectively) of the total community's total population.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.wsh.nhs.uk/ServicesAtoZ/CorporateServices/Chaplaincy/DirectoryofInformationonFaithsandCultures/Vietnamese.aspx|chapter=Vietnamese|title=Directory of Information on Faiths and Cultures|publisher=National Health Service|access-date=2012-06-15}}</ref> This is roughly in line with the religious breakdown of Vietnam, where 85% of the population are Buddhists and 7% are Roman Catholic.
==Education and employment==
According to a 2007 study, in the London borough of Lewisham, Vietnamese pupils along with [[British Chinese|Chinese]] and [[British Indians|Indians]] outperformed all other ethnic groups. Education and employment statistics for [[immigrant generations|second generation]] British-born people of Vietnamese origin are largely uncollated.<ref name=RM/>
==Social issues==
[[File:Lewisham.jpg|thumb|[[Lewisham]] in [[London]] is home to the UK's largest Vietnamese community, [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] also prevails as the area's second most common language]]
===Human trafficking and Modern slavery===
{{Main|Essex lorry deaths}}
39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a lorry trailer on 23 October 2019. The victims consists of mostly teenagers, who travelled in a refrigerator unit, but the refrigeration was not turned on and temperatures rose to 38.5C during the journey. This has sparked huge controversy and uproar.<ref>{{cite news |title=Essex lorry deaths: Men jailed for killing 39 migrants lose appeal bid |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-59394864 |access-date=31 July 2022 |publisher=BBC |date=23 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gentleman |first1=Amelia |title=Essex lorry deaths: 39 Vietnamese migrants suffocated in container, court hears |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/07/essex-lorry-deaths-39-vietnamese-migrants-suffocated-in-container-court-hears |access-date=31 July 2022 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In the first quarter of 2024, Vietnamese became the most common nationality of [[English Channel migrant crossings (2018–present)#2024|migrants crossing the English channel]] by boat, rising rapidly from 505 Vietnamese migrants in 2022 to 1,323 in 2023, to the first quarter of 2024 alone recording 1,060.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vietnamese migrants now the largest group illegally crossing Channel to UK |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2024-05-23/vietnamese-migrants-now-the-largest-group-illegally-crossing-channel-to-uk |work=ITV News |date=23 May 2024}}</ref> Some would have paid upwards of £20,000 to trafficking gangs, using borrowed money at interest rates of 1,000 per cent.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hymas |first1=Charlie |title=More migrants crossing the Channel are from Vietnam than anywhere else |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/15/more-migrants-crossing-channel-vietnam-uk/ |work=The Telegraph |date=15 April 2024}}</ref> A 2023 investigation found that the majority of people being smuggled were from the province of [[Nghe An]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Peter |title=Inside the people smuggling routes which Vietnamese are using to reach the UK |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-10-03/inside-the-people-smuggling-routes-which-vietnamese-are-using-to-reach-the-uk |work=ITV News |date=3 October 2023}}</ref> In response, in 2024 the [[Home Office]] launched a targeted social networking campaign to deter Vietnamese nationals from illegally migrating to the UK.<ref>{{cite news |title=Home Office launches 'stop the boats' ad campaign in Vietnam |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68653368 |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2024}}</ref>
==Notable people==
* [[Aoife Hinds]], actress
*[[Huong Keenleyside]], novelist
*[[Jane March]], film actress and former model
* [[Cecile Pin]], French-born writer
*[[Jonathan Van-Tam]], healthcare professional and one of two [[Chief Medical Officers (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief Medical Officers]] for [[Chief Medical Officers (United Kingdom)#Deputies|England]]
*Michael “The Beast From The East” Pham, Muay Thai boxer
==See also==
{{Portal|Vietnam|United Kingdom}}
* [[British East and Southeast Asian]]
* [[East Asian people in the United Kingdom]]
* [[Vietnamese people]]
* [[Overseas Vietnamese]]
* [[:Category:British people of Vietnamese descent|Notable Britons of Vietnamese descent]]
* [[Vietnamese people in France]]
* [[Vietnamese American]]
==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=RM>{{cite web|url=http://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/108/74.html|title=Vietnamese Community in Great Britain - Thirty Years On|date=January 2007|publisher=[[Runnymede Trust]]|first=Jessica Mai|last=Sims|access-date=2008-12-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723230936/http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/TheVietnameseCommunity-2007.pdf|archivedate=23 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}
==External links==
* [http://www.viethome.co.uk Vietnamese Community in the United Kingdom  - VietHome.co.uk]
* [http://www.hienle.co.uk Vietnamese Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers - hienle.co.uk]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/05/26/vietnamese_london_feature.shtml Vietnamese London]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2006/10/12/vietnamese_buddhist_temple_opening_feature.shtml BBC Vietnamese in Birmingham]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630203524/http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=13347&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=5359 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> Vietnamese people in Birmingham]
{{Overseas Vietnamese}}
{{AsiansinUK}}
{{Portal bar|Vietnam|United Kingdom}}
[[Category:Asian diaspora in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British people of Vietnamese descent|*]]
[[Category:Immigration to the United Kingdom by country of origin]]
[[Category:Vietnamese diaspora by country|United Kindgom]]