Paragraph 30:
Paragraph 40:
Paragraph 47:
2.
...if all or most of any new intake consisted of close relatives being reunited, a new intake would contribute to satisfactory resettlement rather than simply "increasing the numbers in needs of help".
On the basis of SCF's extensive experience in the resettlement of Vietnamese in Britain, we thoroughly endorse the Sub-Committee's view that family reunion plays a vital part in aiding adjustment.
'There is no advantage in delaying the United Kingdom's response to the problem of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong...Our main reason for urgency is the damage which long periods in camps, particularly closed camps, are doing to those in them and their subsequent ability to resettle satisfactorily...We recommend that the FCO make resolution of Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee problem a major priority in its dealings with foreign government.
Following the comments made above with regard to paragraph 34, SCF fully endorses the above statements and recommendation.
'The JCRV's assessment of their difficulties bears repeating:
"The Vietnamese are one of the most disadvantaged groups ever to come to the United Kingdom. Many lack marketable skills or even skills which can easily be adapted to our society. Many lack education and literacy even in their own language. Most, having come from North Vietnam, have had little contact with Western civilization..." *
SCF is concerned that the Sub-Committee has accepted in its entirety the JCRV's assessment of the difficulties facing the Vietnamese in Britain. The alleged lack of 'marketable' or even 'adaptable' skills has not proved a barrier to employment among refugees of a similar background in other resettlement countries. The issue here is the arrival of the Vietnamese in this country at a time of economic recession and high unemployment, which, as the Sub-Committee point: out, has prevented the majority of them from entering the labour market even at the lowest level.
As for the supposed lack of 'literacy even in their own language', our experience has not shown this to be the case generally, and we believe that the myth of illiteracy has developed as a result of the inability of some members of a predominantly ethnic Chinese population to read and write the Vietnamese language, whilst being fully literate in their mother tongue.
Paragraph 50:
'The first [lesson] is the value of involving the refugees themselves in the planning and organisation of resettlement at the earliest possible opportunity.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.