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British Vietnam Migrants Recall Deadly Voyage

British Vietnam Migrants Recall Deadly Voyage

The drowning of more than 800 migrants last week is another tragic example of the risk borne by those trying to cross the Med for a better life - but this year's deaths are not the first refugee crisis at sea.

The perilous crossings from North Africa are chillingly reminiscent of the late 1970s and 1980s when nearly a million Vietnamese attempted to escape communism by crossing the South China Sea.

They became known as the Vietnamese Boat People and at one point 10,000 were fleeing the country by boat every month.

Crowded, rickety vessels and attacks by pirates were the reality for many of the refugees - and thousands starved or drowned.

Sky News has met a few of those who survived their journey and ended up settling in the UK.

Thanh Vu, who runs a community centre in Hackney, north London, vividly recalls the voyage: "No food, no water with 21 people in a very small boat.

"All of them are just lying down. Waiting to die. It's very dreadful.

"Luckily we met a British ship that picked us up and landed in Singapore."

Those who survived the journey landed in places like Singapore and Hong Kong and were usually held in detention centres.

It was years until the international community came together to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis that unfolded.

The refugees were eventually resettled all over the world - mostly in the US, but France, the UK, Canada, Australia and Germany also took them in.

Most of the 22,000 who came to Britain between 1975 to 1988 settled in the Lewisham, Southwark and Hackney areas of London.

Initially, they found it harder to integrate than those who had gone to other countries, where the Vietnamese communities were much larger.

And the challenges they faced are the same challenges that migrants heading to Europe today will have to overcome.

Jack Shieh, a social worker in southeast London, fled Vietnam in 1979.

He told Sky News: "When we first came to this country you have to cope with everything that is new and strange.

"Weather, different systems of life, the whole social system and make up is very different to what we have. And on top of that is the language barrier.

"You are unable to even go to the doctor and tell the doctor what is wrong with you. You can imagine how difficult it is."

The Vietnamese Community Centre in Hackney opens three days a week. There are language classes and other education programmes.

Almost everybody who visits the centre is only alive today because they once risked their lives on the sea.

Many still do not speak much English and unemployment is high, largely because those who escaped Vietnam did so without a formal education.

There is no doubt that integration has been difficult but it is an existence coveted by so many around the world - and many still seem willing to put their lives on the line.

EU leaders have now agreed to triple funds for operations in the Mediterranean aimed at saving the lives of people making the perilous crossing from North Africa.

Britain is also once again playing its part, and will send the warship HMS Bulwark, three Merlin helicopters and two patrol boats to boost search-and-rescue missions.