Dr Seb Rumsby, Lecturer in Southeast Asian Politics estimates that there are between 20,000 and 70,000 undocumented Vietnamese in the UK, most of whom end up working for Vietnamese employers in nail salons, restaurants or on cannabis farms.Researching undocumented Vietnamese migrants in the UK, Dr Rumsby noticed the dominance of Nghe An residents working in nail bars during his time doing research in Coventry.He said: “The fundamental issue is that you can work in a nail salon in the UK for well below minimum wage and still earn a lot more than you could back in Nghe An."“The government just blames smugglers and traffickers, saying it's all the fault of these evil traffickers, and this just distracts from or ignores the actual reasons and drivers … which are largely economic,” he explains."This imbalance in wage difference between Vietnamese and UK salaries is not going to change anytime soon”, he adds.
Al-Jazeera