substantially affect the ability of the Vietnamese to settle satisfactorily.
Community support the particular problems of the Vietnamese
71.
In addition to the other problems the Vietnamese face, they can experience a condition which sets them apart from other immigrants and which further hampers their settlement in the community. This condition, for convenience referred to as refugee trauma, derives from the range of experience and expectations they bring with them to their adopted country. All refugees are vulnerable in this respect, the Vietnamese outstandingly so. They come with a legacy of violence and insecurity from 30 years of war; they have had to face the realisation that the country in which they were born no longer offers security and prospects; they have endured the strains of preparation for covert flight and the flight itself in which large numbers of Vietnamese lost their lives, among whom may be family members and friends. Having reached a country of first asylum they feel guilty at being the ones to get out and survive. They experience a loss of control over the factors that affect their lives, particularly during the processes of selection, rejection and, finally, acceptance by a Western nation. They now become aware that there is no going back, though sometimes a 'myth of return' develops.
72. Expectations of the country of resettlement are unreasonably high. The reality of unemployment, lack of English and isolation, which is the immediate prospect for the Vietnamese in the UK, taken with their earlier experiences and expectations, hits particularly hard. The symptoms of their distress: depression, paranoid reaction, inter-generation conflict and marital stress, can be expected, according to the American literature, within three months to three years after settlement. During this period there is a concentration of these problems among the refugee population. The refugee experience remains with them for the rest of their lives.
73. In the normal course of events they would find support within the extended family. That family is now fragmented and other members of it experience the same problems. Within the Vietnamese/Chinese culture the appropriate response to stress is to work harder. Most are unemployed and there is little chance of them getting employment in the present economic climate.
74. The Vietnamese ought to be able to look to their own community for support. However, the dispersal policy has meant that, with the exception of a few urban areas, the numbers settled together are not large enough to provide that support. Even when groups are quite large, the diverse nature of the population (Christian/Buddhist, Chinese/Vietnamese, North Vietnam/South Vietnam) can provoke conflict rather than provide support.
75. The statutory services do not at present offer much hope. Support requires a degree of understanding of Vietnamese culture and the stresses peculiar to the refugee, all of which argues for specialist provision. For instance, counselling can only be done effectively by trained workers who speak the language or through specially trained interpreters. In most areas such arguments have been resisted by the local authority on the basis that the small numbers a consequence of the dispersal policy do not warrant special provision.
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76. With the support of Government funding since mid-1981, the refugee agencies have sought to fill the vacuum by building up and maintaining the work of
17.
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