ABSTRACT
A. Hardy traces the formation of a Vietnamese diaspora further back into the Vietnam conflict, when a million inhabitants moved from the North to the South of Vietnam after the Geneva Agreement of 1954. H. Nguyen argues that ‘in retelling their individual and communal stories, women reveal themselves as custodians, interpreters, and archivists of Vietnamese diasporic histories’. The Vietnamese refugees who arrived in Britain faced particular challenges. The chapter examines Vietnamese migration to the UK and settlement in East London. In contrast to the large body of scholarship on a diverse range of migrant groups within East London, there have been very few studies of Vietnamese communities. Vietnamese communities in East London are heterogeneous, differing in terms of ethnic background, circumstances of migration, age, religion and socio-economic status. Exploring studies of the Vietnamese diaspora in a range of locations provides insights into the themes of home, migration and identity in different contexts.
