Book Description

In most refugee contexts the critical need for 'protection' is very real. This study focuses on Vietnamese asylum seekers in detention centres in Hong Kong. Particular attention is paid to Vietnamese women and the forms of suffering they endure because of their gender identity. The author aptly discloses the social, economic and cultural constructions which nurture what ought to be considered an embarrassing status quo and she proposes that a relationship exists between the violence Vietnamese women in detention have to endure and the imbalance of power-sharing. The origins of such violence are said to be the functions of the institutions set up for asylum seekers and reflect the cultural norms regarding women as possessions of men. The author sees listening to the voices of the Vietnamese asylum seekers in general and women in particular as a first step to improve their rights and increase their choices. Hence she links self-empowerment of people to understanding of their interests, concerns and needs as well as becoming aware of their resources. Follow-up in the form of a second step must then be dedicated to efforts that make the voices of Vietnamese men, women and children in detention in Hong Kong heard. Such action, the author concludes, might press the international community to respond by working towards a legal and humanitarian framework for asylum seekers and their particular needs that go beyond 'Concrete and Steel'.