Vietnam is readjusting to an influx of foreigners. In 2007 the country saw 3.6 million overseas visitors enter the country, a 3.7% increase on the previous year. And with scores of English teachers and businessmen relocating here every year, these numbers show no sign of letting up. But one question remains. Are locals extending a warm welcome to every new face?
Recent arrivals certainly feel so. English backpacker Alex Dorey, who has been in Saigon five days, is commendable of his treatment. “I’ve had a great time here the past couple of days, the locals have treated me very well and I’m enjoying it” he says. Newly-arrived English teacher Ryan Davis positions himself similarly. “I felt welcome from the very moment I arrived” he adds.
Such a hospitable reputation bodes Vietnam well, foretelling a future that is seemingly bright. But is it reality? Or just the opinion of two white faces?
For a certain minority of visitors Vietnam is growing only in hostility rather than warmth.
A Different Story
“We’re being treated savagely” says Aaron Ewedafe, a 24-year-old Nigerian footballer and native of the Nigerian capital Lagos, hanging out on the corner of Pham Ngu Lao. Aaron is here drinking with friends, enjoying an evening away from the brutality of a hard days training. “The locals look at us with disgust” he adds while swigging the remnants of his VND5,000 beer.
What a professional footballer is doing drinking beer is beside the point, for Aaron it is an act of escapism, a chance to forget just how difficult the life of a Nigerian in Vietnam can be. “It’s tough, my friends can’t ever come and see me” he says.
In February of this year the Government of Vietnam embarked on a serious crackdown on Nigerians following a wave of anti-social and criminal activities reportedly being perpetrated by Nigerian immigrants. Later that month the Government placed a blanket ban on all Nigerian visitors attempting to enter the country.
“The government is being very unfair. We can’t set up businesses, find accommodation, we can’t do anything” Aaron and his friends say. But their cries remain dubious. Is there truly no smoke without fire?
Accusations
In late February, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official in Nigerian’s second biggest city Abuja, the Vietnamese authorities met with the Nigerian Ambassador in Hanoi to protest over what they consider the unbecoming attitude of Nigerians. According to the official, Vietnamese authorities also announced plans to deport scores of Nigerians already in detention over a diverse range of criminal acts.
What the ‘con me le’s’ (as the Vietnamese call them) have apparently been up to range from petty to very serious crimes. Among reports of robbery, identity fraud and black bank note scams are far more serious crimes that involve allegations of drug pedaling, prostitution, sexual assault and more.
The Vietnamese media has been no stranger to reporting these issues. English language newspaper Thanh Nhien claimed to have uncovered a Nigerian-run sex-ring promising to make women happy in exchange for money in late January, while the Vietnamese press has circulated regular reports of Nigerian scams on Vietnamese locals.
“When people publicize these things in the media they forget” says Soloman Lar, a Nigerian accountant living in Phu My Hung. “The media is tarnishing the reputation of Nigerians, and we are facing greater hostility from the Vietnamese people”.
How Times Have Changed
For long-term residents this rise in hostility can be traced backward. “Politically, socially and otherwise I have noticed a lot of changes in Vietnam since coming here in 2006. When I first came Vietnam was still developing with lots of foreigners searching for jobs and the Vietnamese were very accommodating and friendly” says Lar.
But the reasons why Nigerians have relocated to a country that is so far removed, both culturally and geographically, to their West African home remains largely ominous. Lar tells me he wound up here by coincidence missing a flight to Malaysia, while another businessman, Somuadina Emmanuel, told me he was invited by a friend. To the Vietnamese such reasoning may also appear unconvincing and only fuel the level of antagonism.
For most, it appears, it is the promise of jobs that is the cause for uproot, with most realizing upon arrival that their options are in fact severely limited. Lagos based newspaper ThisDay, sought to hold Nigerians back by referring to Vietnam earlier this year as a “supposed economic Eldorado” where there are “hardly any rewarding jobs”.
But as the number of Nigerians continues to swell in the downtown areas, such warnings seem to have come too late. According to Aaron most of these men hanging around the backpacker area were once footballers tempted to Vietnam by managers in 2006/07 only to be dumped for Brazilian players and released from their contracts. “What these men do now I don’t know” he says.
To the media and the Vietnamese authorities however, the answer to this question is obvious. These Nigerians are now unemployed and dabbling in crime.
