effective initiative which Government could take in recognition of the plight of the refugees would be to act on the report of the Home Affairs Committee on Racial Disadvantage and extend the funding available under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 beyond Commonwealth immigrants. We understand that such an extension would require an amendment of the Act and were disappointed, therefore, to note from the Government response to the Home Affairs report that there was no immediate prospect of fresh legislation. The needs of the Vietnamese refugees are great. We believe that they add to the case for fresh legislation and we urge that this should not be delayed.
Employment
57. The importance to the Vietnamese refugees of obtaining employment is obvious, They are industrious, self-reliant people unused to the concept of support provided through our welfare state. Employment gives them the means to retain this self-respect which is particularly important within their culture to the heads of family. It enables them to build on the language education they received during reception.
58. Of course, with over three million people unemployed in this country, in terms of employment the Vietnamese could not have been received at a worse time: moreover they tend to be settled in the areas of highest unemployment. The Vietnamese do, however, face a variety of obstacles to employment in addition to those facing the community generally. Except for those who can acquire a reasonable command of English, employment outlets are sharply limited, particularly boaring in mind the reliance on the written and spoken word in industrial concerns and indeed in most other occupations. In terms of previous occupational background, of the Vietnamese whom the United Kingdom has accepted the Home Office research study shows that less than 7% are of the professional managerial class while 78% are recorded as skilled or semi-skilled. However, this last seemingly optimistic statistic in terms of the refugees' future employability has to be qualified. It is drawn from information provided by the Vietnamese whose concept of skills differs from our own; it has also to be said that most of the skills claimed (e.g. typing skills) have limited transferability so long as their possessors lack full language proficiency. As regards their present state of employment, the research indicates that no less than 83% of those Vietnamese of working age may be unemployed.
The level
of employment varies across the country diminishing, as one would expect, the further north one goes. This is indicated by reports from the agencies of employment of about 40% in the south of the country ranging to only 9% in the north-east and virtually nil employment in Scotland.
59. With all that the agencies with the help of local support groups have tried to do to help the Vietnamese find employment, these figures of unemployment are depressing. In most areas there has been contact with local job centres, with skill centres and rehabilitation centres. But in areas of very high unemployment and intense pressure on training resources it is hardly surprising that the low English language ability of the Vietnamese has made it extremely difficult for them to find direct employment and has in practice disqualified them from obtaining help under Manpower Services Commission funded schemes. The policy of dispersed settlement has also meant that even where the particular needs of the refugees are recognised there are insufficient numbers for the MSC to feel justified in organising special provision.
60. Recognising all the difficulties which the Vietnamese face we believe that their best hopes for future employment lie in the training schemes which can
140