Youthful Vietnamese migrants protest vs rulers back home

More than 200 mostly young people gathered outside the Vietnamese embassy in London to protest against Vietnam’s ruling communist party, demanding the release of all prisoners of conscience and calling for democratic reforms.

What was interesting about this protest that I attended in December 2023 was the age of the protesters. They were mostly young people who had grown up in Vietnam, and this was the first protest many had ever participated in, having only left the country a few years ago.

Back in Vietnam, there is almost no space to challenge communist rule and values. These citizens grew up in a nation where TV, radio and education were heavily censored by the authorities and there was limited access to international media. Critical voices were stifled, so most people understandably don’t get involved in politics.

This changes when younger people move abroad, as I have learned during my ongoing research with recent immigrants to the UK. With access to independent, more critical news sources, wider discussions and alternative opinions, migrants tell me that they feel emboldened to question what they have been taught and to learn about widespread human rights abuses or corruption scandals back home.

Unlike an earlier generation of Vietnamese migrants (known as “the boat people”) who fled communist rule decades ago, this group is new to protesting.

The demonstration I attended was organized by the Viet Tan Reform Party, which the Vietnamese government labels a terrorist group. Particularly striking was the yellow flag of the former Republic of South Vietnam. Vietnam’s current government deems display of this flag as a form of sedition.

Another banner laments that it’s been 50 years since China occupied the Paracel