Vietnamese Immigrants in Poland-Three Decades of ...

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 3, No 5 (2017) 586-608

Vietnamese Immigrants in Poland-Three Decades of Experience Marek Bodziany* Abstract: Three decades of common experience of the Poles and the Vietnamese in Poland invites reflection on chances of their cultural assimilation and over the coming years social inclusion as well. Indeed, their shared history on Polish soil goes back to the 1950s, however, a new stage in the mutual relationships was the result of the expansion of Vietnamese immigrants on Poland’s territory after 1989 followed by the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. Today, on the grounds of retrospective analyzes, a number of questions arise relating to the reasons for Vietnamese people’s immigration to Poland as well as concerning their existence in the foreign and culturally homogeneous environment. The scale of immigration, the cultural distinctiveness of the Vietnamese, the specificity of their social structure and existential problems fully justify the importance of undertaking research on this very interesting nationality. Moreover, they direct attention to the phenomenon encumbered with a social paradox. This phenomenon refers to the Vietnamese’s ability to adapt at both social and economic levels, whereas the paradox concerns the lack of links between the social sphere (underpinned by relatively positive relations with the Poles) and the economic one (relating to economic activity and entrepreneurship) and the inclination to cultural assimilation. Keywords: Vietnamese immigrants; Poland; cultural integration; cultural assimilation; coexistence. Received 28th August 2017; Revised 20th October 2017; Accepted 30th October 2017

(…) our children’s Poland was the country from a fairy tale, the country where everything is at your fingertips, “where princesses live”-(Sosin 2005).

Ton Van Anh1

*

General Kosciuszko Military University of Land Forces in Wroclaw, Poland; email: [email protected] The quote from the interview with Ton Van Anh-an oppositionist and activist for improving the fate of the Vietnamese in Poland. In 2003-2004 Van Anh was the editor-in-chief of "Cau Vong", the first free newspaper for the Vietnamese. Since 2006 she has been working with the “La Strada” Foundation, which deals with the fight against human trafficking and slavery. She is also a correspondent for the Radio Free Asia in Washington and a columnist for Benviet.org. In 2011 she received Polish citizenship. 1

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Marek Bodziany / Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 3, No 5 (2017) 586-608

1. Introduction The reflection on Ton Van Anh’s words, the cognitive meaning of which may come as surprising and wondering constitutes a preliminary remark. However, it has a subliminal message in which positive descriptors of the perception of Poland in the opinion of the Vietnamese may be found. Numerous blog entries and conversations with representatives of Vietnamese nationality reminding the period of "socialism" indicate that until 1989 and later Poland appeared for the Vietnamese people as a land of prosperity, peace and respect for human rights, inhabited by closed but not hostile people2. A kind of mysticism and a certain nostalgia for “something unknown” is hidden in Ton Van Anh's words. Unknown, as even in the period of "socialism" few contracted Vietnamese people were working in Poland, as opposed to Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria or the German Democratic Republic. This factor decisively influenced the Vietnamese’s great interest in Poland after 1989 and opened up a new stage of mutual relations, built on the basis of economic activity, culture, respect for the Polish social and political order, as well as-which was probably unavoidable-crime and pathology. Nowadays, two periods describe the Vietnamese immigration to Poland. The first one called the "first wave of immigration" took place from the Second World War until 1989 (Paduch 2008). The second, known as the "second wave of immigration", covers the period from 1990 to date. For the 2

Plenty of valuable information about Poland and the Poles came from the author’s random and spontaneous conversations (2002-2004) with the 12 Vietnamese representing different social classes, working at the “10 thAnniversary Stadium” in Warsaw (the largest retail complex of multicultural character in Poland in the 1990s and after 2000).

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purposes of describing the population and the specifics of the Vietnamese social structure in Poland, the main emphasis was placed on the "second wave of immigration" since it really represents existential problems of this nationality in a foreign and culturally specific environment. Such an approach justifies the scale of the expansion of the Vietnamese nationality into Poland and its endemic (against other immigrant nationalities) national character3 that refers not only to specific cultural traits but also to national identity. Importantly, it is probably the most relevant factor of their cultural assimilation and shaping correct relationships with the Poles. The general introduction sets out the interpretative framework for the subject matter of the study, which is the Vietnamese community in the Polish lands. Its aim is to assess the scale of immigration and the social and economic activity of Vietnamese people in Poland. The research was based on qualitative methods, especially on the analysis of content and secondary data from various studies and reports (desk research). The reports on the Vietnamese community of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century proved to be particularly significant since they allowed not only for the comparison of quantitative data but also for the evaluation of their economic and social activity. Lessons learned from own 3

The national character is defined as the manifestation of essential qualities of a given nation and is based on three common mental characteristics for a large part of the national group; personality traits common for members of the national group and cultural community of a particular country. There are two classical approaches to the national character: a) normative-reflected in constructing properties of the national character in accordance with the state of the so-called popular awareness, based on national stereotypes; b) empirical-based on the construction of the profile (image) of a given nation on the basis of the search for a set of features reflecting objectively existing properties of national character.

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experiences with Vietnamese nationality based on open and hidden observations as well as those arising from discussions with the Vietnamese living in the years 20022004 in Warsaw and working at the "10thAnniversary Stadium" are complementary to this study. The interviews covered 12 respondents (including 5 several times) living in Poland and working at the "10thAnniversary Stadium" for not less than 5 years, familiar with the specifics of the Vietnamese community in Warsaw and the socio-cultural realities of their existence in the foreign and heterogeneous Polish environment. They provided the knowledge on the informal structure of the Vietnamese stadium community and their relations with other nations trading at the “10thAnniversary Stadium”. The analysis of the quantitative data made it possible to evaluate the change in the size of the Vietnamese population in Poland over the 27 previous years, including legal and illegal immigration, as well as the tendency to settle in specific regions of Poland. The research reports on economic activity enabled the analysis of changes in business activity, as evidenced by data on economic activity in the 1990s (e.g. the "10thAnniversary Stadium") as well as current data (e.g. Wólka Kosowska, Tuszyn, Nadarzyn). Plenty of questions, many of which will remain in the sphere of rhetoric, have arisen on the basis of observations of the last thirty-year Vietnamese’s existence in Poland. Such questions relate to the future of Vietnamese nationality in the Polish lands, their identification with Poland and cultural assimilation, as well as their chances of creating a community not only adapted to Polish economic and social conditions but also assimilated culturally and identifying with Poland. While the

discussion on this subject remains rhetorical, the experience of the past 30 years indicates that there are indications of the emergence of a powerful populace and a sustainable ethnic minority. This is evidenced by the scale of the legalization of stays in Poland, the dynamics of entrepreneurship and the increasing tendency to participate in various areas of their social life in Polish lands. The future will tell to what extent this tendency has turned into a social reality, however, as of now, it must be stated that the Vietnamese have become a solid and additionally positive element of the multicultural landscape of Poland. 2. The first wave of immigration- the beginning of mutual relationships The presence of the Vietnamese in the Polish lands has a short history going back to the 1950s and 1960s (Paduch 2008). Some sources indicate that the presence of this nationality in Poland should be dated to the World War II, but the lack of reliable data does not allow for a broader description of the nature of their arrivals. These were most likely, accidental and incidental transit arrivals. The documented presence of the Vietnamese in Poland refers to the period after the World War II, in particular to the 1950s. The symbolic inflow of representatives of this nationality was the result of Poland's cooperation with Vietnam in the field of education and exchange of experiences related to the accession of Vietnam to the Warsaw Pact. The first visible effect of the cooperation was the higher educational studies provided for Vietnamese students at Polish universities in the academic year 1957/58, mainly in Warsaw, Katowice, and Gdansk (Polańska n.d.). As a result of the didactic cooperation, about 40 Vietnamese people representing


the Vietnamese social elites, whose mission was to bring new technologies to their country, were present in Poland each year until the mid-1960s (Gryczka 1998). During the peak period covering the years 19711973, 800 nationals of Vietnam studied in Poland. The increase in their numbers was determined by the solidarity of the Warsaw Pact countries aimed at helping Vietnam, which was destroyed by the war with the USA. It was also the outcome of the UN’s call for educational assistance to students and staff from the "Third World" countries. Poland's commitment led to the growth in the number of Vietnamese students in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, about 4,000 of them benefited from the opportunity to study in Poland, mainly in technical fields (mining and geology, shipbuilding, shipping and maritime transport). For example, in the academic year 1969/70, their number was 725, which was 28% of all foreign students, while in the academic year 1970/71-819, which accounted for 30% of the total number of foreign students studying in Poland (Halik 2006: 29-30). Furthermore, the Study of Polish Language for Foreigners was established at the University of Lodz, in which students inter alia from Vietnam were educated. Some of them decided to stay in Poland after graduation and bring their family members4. Not only did Vietnamese students appear in Poland in the discussed period, but also representatives of armed

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forces, traders, engineers, and diplomats came (Halik 2006: 31). The reforms in Vietnam of 1986, when the doi moi policy, the so-called "controlled democratic”, enabling citizens to look for work abroad was introduced, strongly affected the spatial mobility of the Vietnamese (Karwowski 2010). As a result, many Vietnamese decided to settle in the Eastern Bloc countries, including Poland. Nevertheless, until 1989, the Vietnamese population in Poland was rather symbolic, which compared with other states in the Warsaw Pact, such as Russia, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria or the German Democratic Republic, which was somewhat of a mystery that needs to be identified with less interest shown by Poland in employing the Vietnamese. This is of particular importance in the face of data describing the presence of Vietnamese in Eastern Europe: at the beginning of 1989, there were 167,505 Vietnamese contract workers, of whom 45% were women, whereas at the end of 1989 217,183 nationals of Vietnam were employed in different industries or learning at Polish universities. Women accounted for over 42% of this figure, i.e. 92 thousand (The Department of Migration Policy 2007: 25). According to various data, the population of the Vietnamese in Poland amounted to 1300 people. 3. The second wave of immigration

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The Vietnamese government critically approached the issue and created problems for the relatives of those Vietnamese who remained in Poland. Until the 1990s representatives of this group were not called migrants because they were Vietnamese citizens who decided to live their family and professional lives in Poland. This group established the first Vietnamese organization-the Vietnamese Social and Cultural Association in Poland and began editing the periodical Van Viet. It was them who became the nucleus of the Vietnamese elite in Poland owing to the knowledge of Polish language and culture, their education as well as socio-political realities.

After the disintegration of the USSR, the situation in Europe and in the world changed radically, including in the social sphere. The opening of borders naturally "provoked" the intensification of population processes, also spatial migration. Since 1989, due to its relative social, economic and transit attractiveness, Poland has become a country

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characterized by the unprecedented level (not earlier seen from the interwar period) of absorption of foreign nationalities. Along with their influx, the cultural character of the state changed from homogeneous to more mosaic. This is a fairly general conclusion because it concerns almost exclusively big cities and their vicinities, including Warsaw, Szczecin, Łódź, and Lublin. More and more Vietnamese began to arrive in Poland with the waves of immigrants. This would be nothing out of ordinary if not for the fact that they came not from the East but from the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia, where a large group of contract workers resided during the socialist period (Bodziany 2014:197). It is estimated that more than 30,000 Vietnamese people came to Poland from the two aforementioned states and they created closed and, in a sense, mysterious "ethnic exclaves". Almost from the beginning, their existence was of a closed and hermetic nature, especially for representatives of the lowest social strata. Only the elites (particularly economic and spiritual) showed willingness to the forced coexistence with the Poles. This was due to a number of factors in which cultural competence was of significant importance at that time, including the knowledge of Polish language and the specificity of Polish culture, as well as the politically negative stereotypical perception based on chauvinism, xenophobia and intolerance. Such a stereotype should not be surprising, as it was and, in the opinion of many people, is still widespread. In the early 1990s, not only the foundations of the social structure of the Vietnamese community in Poland but also

criminal groups operating previously in reunited Germany began to appear. It is worth emphasizing that under the government agreement signed in July 1995 between Germany and Vietnam in the year 2000 about 40,000 people who worked in this state as guest workers (Gastarbeiter) were to return to Vietnam (Róg 1998:155). Estimates from that period indicate that about 50% of the Vietnamese returned to their country, and those who stayed in Poland and other countries almost immediately began to "attract" their family members and acquaintances from Vietnam. The analysis of the Vietnamese population points out to the serious dissonance between the number of legal and disclosed representatives of this nationality and the population of illegal immigrants. The data from the National Population and Housing Census conducted in 2002 indicate that their number in Poland reached 1.8 thousand. (Act on National and Ethnic Minorities of 2005). For comparison, according to various reports and studies, at the beginning of the 21st century, the population of illegally staying Vietnamese was between 20,000 and even 40,000. The most reliable data from that period coming from the Office for Repatriation and Foreigners shows that the population of this nationality exceeded 40 thousand in 2001. According to Teresa Halik, a researcher of the Vietnamese minority in Poland, the population of this nationality ranged between 20-30 thousand in 2002, with only about 1 thousand having residence cards, and about 20% living without any permit to stay (Halik 2006). Edward Osiecki, a chaplain of Vietnamese Catholics, commented that Vietnamese population in


Poland was about 60,000 at that time (Bodziany 2014:198). The data from the Ministry of Public Security in Hanoi, presented at the meeting of the EU Heads of Missions in Vietnam, are far removed from reality. According to them, by 2005, the number of the Vietnamese in irregular situation staying in the EU Member States without a residence permit was approximately 100 thousand, of whom about 5 thousand lived in Poland (The Department of Migration Policy 2007:35). The data from Polish sources drastically verifies the optimism of the Vietnamese authorities about the number of illegal immigrants from Vietnam, since in 2001-2005 their population remained unchanged at the level of 40 thousand people. The Vietnamese activist Ton Van Anh is of the opinion that this figure is also underestimated and results from the spatial mobility of the Vietnamese (Dubrowska and Kowalska 2007:2). The expulsions of the Vietnamese from Poland have taken place since the beginning of immigration. Noteworthy is the fact connected with their effectiveness. During the period in question, 3021 decisions on expulsion were issued primarily to persons who had illegally crossed the Polish-

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Ukrainian border. The enforceability of the decisions proved very low, at the level of around 30% (849 deportations). In other cases, the status of tolerated stay was applied to illegal immigrants (The Department of Migration Policy 2007:66). The analysis of the number of detentions during the attempt to enter or stay in Poland’s territory is an equally important element in the assessment of the scale of the Vietnamese’s immigration to Poland. Data from the most sensitive period of 1997-2005 indicate that the number of detentions has increased 13 times. According to the data from the Border Guard Headquarters, the Vietnamese accounted for 0.6% of all foreigners who attempted or crossed the state border in contravention of regulations in 1997, while in 2001 they accounted for 7.7% of all Vietnamese detainees. In 2005 the number of detentions continued to grow to 9% of all detained illegal immigrants. Furthermore, permanent directions of immigration and places of the most frequent crossings of the Polish border were identified in addition to the increase in detection and detention. Figure 1 shows the number of Vietnamese detainees on various sections of the Polish border and in its territory between 1997 and 2003.

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Fig. 1. Number of detentions of Vietnamese illegal immigrants in the years 1997-2003.

Source: Own study based on the data from the Headquarters of the Border Guard, 2003

127 detentions in Poland were reported between 2004 and 2006, of which 178 at the internal border of the European Union (including 105 at the border with Germany) and 356 at the eastern border of the European Union (including 334 on the Ukrainian border) (Data from the Headquarters of the Border Guard). Contrary to popular opinion, according to the data of the Headquarters of the Border Guard, since 2006 the population of the Vietnamese slowly began to decline and has stabilized at the level of 30 thousand, with a record number of 6971 legal residences in the year under consideration. The analysis of the data from this source regarding the year 2006 indicates that once nearly 9 thousand legal immigrants from Vietnam were granted a permit to stay in Poland, most of them left our country almost immediately. Thus, when speaking of the number of legal Vietnamese immigrants, the so-called rotating migration must be taken into consideration and the analysis should cover those who remained in the Polish territory and held valid residence cards as per 31 December 2006. Finally, it should be assumed that the end of 2006 saw about 13

thousand Vietnamese lawfully present in Poland, including people with Polish citizenship and their children, as well as those with legal residence5 (The Department of Migration Policy 2007:34). Figure 2 displays the data of the Headquarters of the Border Guard from the years 1994-2006, describing the scale of the influx of the legal Vietnamese to Poland.

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The number of people of Vietnamese origin legally residing in Poland in 2006 was estimated on the basis of the data describing also the population of family members of citizens of the European Union Member States who obtained a residence permit or a temporary residence permit as well as persons staying as of 31 December 2006 in penitentiary units and detention centers. In addition, the estimates included persons who received Polish citizenship in the years 1992-2006 and those who applied for citizenship in the years 1992-2006 due to marriage with a Polish citizen. The number of children from Vietnamese and mixed marriages was also added - a total of about 5,000 people. The above estimates should add immigrants who arrived in Poland before the year 1992 starting from the 1960s, the number of whom may be about 1 thousand.


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Fig. 2. Number of the Vietnamese coming to Poland legally in the years 1994-2006.

Source: Own study based on the data from the Headquarters of the Border Guard 2006.

As in the case of the year 2006, earlier years also show discrepancies between the data from the then Office for Repatriation and Foreigners (now the Office for Foreigners) and the Headquarters of the Border Guard. It is worth noting that in the period 2001-2006 as many as 8119 visas were issued to Vietnamese citizens, mainly on the basis of invitations not only of a Polish citizen but also a foreigner with a legalized stay, living in Poland for over 5 years. The total number of visas granted in this period included: 458 with a work permit (issued in 2001-2003), 7607 residence visas and 54 issued by commandants of the Border Guard outposts (2004-2006) (The Department of Migration Policy 2007: 40). As a result of tightening the visa policy, the number of visas issued to foreigners, including the Vietnamese, decreased in the years to come. The increase in the population of the Vietnamese legally living (in different categories of residence) in Poland was also recorded in 2007 and 2008. The report on Vietnamese expatriates, commissioned by

the Intercultural Center for Vocational Adaptation at the University of Warsaw, indicates that the above number rose to around 17 thousand. (KrzyżaniakGumowska 2009). For comparison, according to Vietnamese sources, 20-25 thousand Vietnamese lived in Poland in 2009, and about 1/3 of them had undocumented status (Wysieńska 2010). Great expectations were attached to the National Population and Housing Census of 2011 aimed at making the size of the population of "new" nationalities living in Poland more realistic. The Census itself aroused strong emotions and did not bring the expected results. The population of the Vietnamese estimated on its basis amounted for 3,800 people. This number in a confrontation with the population of Vietnamese illegal immigrants still oscillating around 30 thousand showed the scale of Vietnamese isolation in Poland, the lack of inclination to cultural assimilation as well as the fear of deportation and sanctions in their own country. This is a superficial observation, but it is the basis for scientific

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research on the etiology of the Vietnamese’s self-isolation. In subsequent years, the Vietnamese population in Poland was slowly but gradually declining, which was conditioned by the "escape" of immigrants who did not have the chance to legalize their stay in Poland to Western European countries. This trend confirms the norm that Poland was then only a "gateway to Europe" and an "economic trampoline" not only for the Vietnamese but also for most economic immigrants. The tendency to leave Poland pertained to people who had not received permanent residence cards as a necessary condition for financial stability and future building as well as to all categories of Vietnamese immigrants. The analysis of quantitative data coming from the Office for Foreigners indicates, however, that also the holders of permanent residence cards left Poland, as evidenced by the fluctuations of the population with legal residence. The data from the years 2013-2015 describes the sinusoidal character of the Vietnamese population. In 2013, 13,404 Vietnamese held the residence card, in 2014 - 9042, and in the mid-2015 there was a slight increase recorded in the permanent residence card population - to the level of 10,234 (Łysienia 2016:29-30).

error, which is dictated by its persistent inclination to self-isolation and treating Poland as a transit country towards Western Europe. It should be assumed that the actual number of Vietnamese people in Poland has been around 20 thousand for a few years. It is apparent from the official figures as of the end of 2016 that 9174 people legalized their residence (in its various options and categories). The results of the analysis of secondary data from the Office of Foreigners of 2016 conducted with the desk research technique applied and the conclusions resulting from the comparative data from other reports revealed some significant gaps. There is no information about the geographical distribution of people residing in Poland within the tolerated stay242 persons, humanitarian stay-97 persons, covered by supplementary protection -2 persons and having refugee status-4 persons6 (The Department of Migration Policy 2007: 58). Table 1 provides a detailed distribution of the population of Vietnamese legally resident in Poland (based on their size in voivodships).

4. Settlement of Vietnamese people in Poland The presented quantitative data describing the size of the Vietnamese population in Poland have only retained their historical value and are affected by a significant estimation error due to the dynamics and scale of migration to Poland and from Poland to Western Europe. Currently, the population of this nationality is also burdened with a serious margin of

6

According to the Office for Repatriation and Foreigners (now the Office for Foreigners) in the period 1991-2006, 501 applications for refugee status were submitted for 533 persons (including 33 under-aged Vietnamese nationals under the age of 15). About 3/4 of the applicants were men, mostly 25-54 years old. Only one positive decision on refugee status was issued in the period in question.


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Permanent residence card of an EU citizen’s family member

Residence card of an EU citizen’s family member

Permanent residence card of an EU citizen

Residence card of an EU citizen

Temporary residence permit

Long-term resident’s EU residence permit

Permanent residence permit

Table 1. Geographical distribution of the Vietnamese population legally residing in Poland

Total

Voivodship Dolnośląskie 65 17 71 153 Kujawsko-pomorskie 37 12 36 1 86 Lubelskie 29 5 23 57 Lubuskie 24 8 21 2 55 Łódzkie 53 16 129 198 Małopolskie 117 85 128 1 1 332 Mazowieckie 1751 1655 3929 1 7336 Opolskie 14 7 12 33 Podkarpackie 32 3 12 47 Podlaskie 5 2 7 Pomorskie 35 4 31 70 Śląskie 77 54 74 205 Świętokrzyskie 11 8 5 1 25 Warmińsko-mazurskie 17 3 3 23 Wielkopolskie 29 6 30 65 Zachodniopomorskie 75 16 45 1 137 Total 2371 1899 4551 1 0 7 0 8829* *in addition, the Vietnamese population includes persons: holding permits for the tolerated stay - 242 people, staying in Poland for humanitarian purposes - 97 persons, covered by supplementary protection - 2 persons or refugee status - 4 persons. The total number of the Vietnamese legally residing in Poland was 9,174 as of 31 December 2016.

Source: Own study based on the data from the Office for Foreigners, 2016, https://udsc.gov.pl/statystyki/raporty-specjalne/wazne-dokumenty-zestawienie/ [accessed on 08.08.2017]

This analysis also allows for the observation of settlement trends dictated by economic factors and the phenomenon of "attracting fellows". The first factor relates to the level of economic development of regions (voivodships) and unemployment rates in them. The Mazowieckie Voivodship, where 7336 Vietnamese have residence permits, takes the lead in terms of choice of place for settlement. Although the Voivodship does not occupy a leading position with regard to the unemployment rate-10.7% at the end of 2016 (8.2% for Poland in 2016), the fact that the capital city

of Warsaw lies within its area inclines immigrants to settle there due to a diverse labor market and levels of earnings. Since the beginning of immigration, it was the most preferred Polish city by immigrants of Vietnamese nationality, which proves the attractiveness of the region and the City. This is reflected in the scale of immigration to Mazovia in the years 1990-2001, where almost half of the population of all immigrants from this country lived during the period in question. Contemporary data still shows disparities in the geographical

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distribution of this nationality, but they are no longer as stark as in the 1990s. It is pertinent to look at the contemporary data. In the years 2015-2016, only 2943 Vietnamese were legally living in the capital city, which accounted for 13.5% of all legal foreigners living in Warsaw and about 40% of the entire legal population of the Vietnamese living in the Mazowieckie Voivodship (Residence data of the City Office of Warsaw 2016). The issue of "attracting one’s fellows" as a factor causing the growth of the population of this nationality has its historical justification because even during the first immigration wave almost all centers of activity of the socalled "old immigrants” from Vietnam were established in Warsaw. Therefore, it should be assumed that the phenomenon of absorption ("attracting fellows") of new waves of immigrants was and continues to be caused by the influence and motivation of immigrants already settled. The remainder of the Vietnamese population settled mainly in rich voivodships of low unemployment rate: 332

in Małopolskie, 205 in Łódzkie, 198 in Dolnośląskie-153 and Zachodniopomorskie137. Low interest in the Wielkopolskie Voivodship, characterized by low unemployment, a high development level, and the diverse labor market is surprising. Currently, there are only 65 Vietnamese permanent residents, including the majority in the capital of the Voivodship-Poznan. It is significant, as in the case of Warsaw, that 2/3 of the Vietnamese settled in cities that create Vietnamese "ethnic islands", i.e. isolated cultural exclaves that are relatively closed and socially cohesive. To some extent, this is justified by the fact that almost two thirds of Vietnamese immigrants arriving in Poland are residents of Vietnamese cities. Warsaw called VietTown in the 1990s is the largest Vietnamese enclave, which together with the surrounding Vietnamese settlements can be termed the "ethnic archipelago". Figure 3 shows the geographical distribution of the Vietnamese population in Poland in figures as of 31 December 2016.


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Fig.2. Map of Poland demonstrating the distribution of the Vietnamese population in voivodships

Source: own study based on https://geofactoftheday.blogspot.com/2013/04/polands-voivodeships-provinces.html and the residence data of the City Office of Warsaw 2016.

5. Economic activity of the Vietnamese in Poland In the perception of the Poles, the presence of the Vietnamese people in Warsaw will forever be associated with the "10th Anniversary Stadium"-the Warsaw bazaar known as the "Jarmark Europa" ("Europa Market"), which until 2008 was Europe's largest open market. This was a significant and socially interesting place that brought together nearly 20 different nationalities co-creating a multicultural (or culturally pluralist) community, co-existing in a melting pot of cultures characterized by the almost exclusively territorial-"Stadium" community, separate interests, different

culture and the specificity of the social structure. The largest population was the Vietnamese and, according to Damis’-s Company managing the "Jarmark Europa", the number of commercial stands hired by them in the years 2003-2007 amounted to 1229, with the following figures in particular years: - in 2003-1285; - in 2004-1251; - in 2005-1240; - in 2006-1192; - in 2007-1179 (until May 2007) (The Department of Migration Policy 2007: 85). It is estimated that by 2008 the Vietnamese leased an average of 1,100 to

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1,200 trading posts a year. Moreover, in the Mazowieckie Voivodship, there were and still are several other concentrations of Vietnamese immigrants living in and around Warsaw, functioning within their own communities, leading small and "ethnically" homogeneous establishments engaged in trading in textiles, gastronomy and service activities, which also found their place at the "10th-Anniversary Stadium". Apart from conducting trade, the lives of the Vietnamese were accompanied by the development of various services such as hairdressing, telecommunication, transport and the protection of their stalls against the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Armenians and other nationalities running their businesses at the "Stadium". The development of trade to secure the needs of the Vietnamese themselves, such as music, movies, books, foodstuffs, as well as the distribution of the Vietnamese and the Polish press proved to be an important element of economic activity. It is worth noting that in 2003 "Gazeta Wyborcza" was printing up to 2000 copies of the newspaper in Vietnamese, which were delivered to Vietnamese readers at the "Stadium". "Stadium" played undoubtedly the integrating role of the Vietnamese community (GrzymałaKazłowska 2008; Halik 2006). The substantial Vietnamese population settled in Wólka Kosowska in the municipality of Lesznowola located southwest of Warsaw. This place is so specific since beyond its strictly economic character it creates a multicultural community consisting of 10 nationalities including Chinese, Vietnamese and Turks. The Chinese are the dominant ethnic group because it is them who founded a modern center and possess the largest number of commercial halls. Although the center operates under the same name GD Poland

International Sp. z o.o., they are managed by separate entities registered in Poland-mostly companies with foreign capital. These include: ASEANEU Sp. z o.o. - the Vietnamese management board, the area of over 3 hectares, 3 halls, about 160 commercial premises; ASEANPL Sp. z o.o. - the Vietnamese management board, 2 complexes of halls, approx. 450 commercial premises; ASG–PL Sp. z o.o. - the Vietnamese management board, 3 halls, approx. 100 enterprises; „EACC Investments” Sp. z o.o.-run by: the European-Asian Commercial Centre, the Turkish-Vietnamese management board, the area of development 4 ha, 4 halls, more than 250 enterprises (Klorek and Szulecka 2013: 28). The emergence of such a large multinational and multicultural trading center gave rise to enormous fears of the Lesznowola municipality’ inhabitants on not only economic grounds but mainly on the basis of a vision of the creation of a large "ethnic ghetto". After years of the center’s operation, it turns out that these fears were unreasonable as not only foreigners but also the Poles found employment in the center. However, there is no complete and reliable statistics on the employment scale in shopping centers in Wólka Kosowska. This is due to the following factors: - the distinctiveness of companies that own the individual centers; - functioning of independent enterprises in centers which are not included in any separate register; - registration of companies in another municipality. The only data that can be used to estimate the number of job positions come


from entrepreneurs conducting businesses in the centers and do not take into account administrative positions and service activities offered within the complex, including transport. According to the report, the center in Wólka Kosowska provides 2,500-3,000 Poles with permanent job (Klorek and Szulecka 2013: 31). Since its very beginning the center has become a "boon" for the municipality in spite of the residents' fears, because the unemployment rate in the municipality has been 7-8% since 2008, which, in particular in the years 20082012, was quite far from the national unemployment rate (an average of ca. 12%). Obviously, the data in question do not include "grey economy" and "black" employment without a contract, which is even more difficult to estimate than the number of legally employed workers. The number of jobs offered to foreigners is equally difficult to estimate, with the largest group of employees (permanent and rotational) being Chinese, Vietnamese and Turks, and also Ukrainians in the years 2016-2017. In order to summarize issues regarding the Vietnamese’s economic activity it is worth emphasizing that in the context of the scale and "stadium" tradition, Wólka Kosowska is only a slice of this kind of social activity. This place is also an example of the Vietnamese’s entrepreneurship and their adaptability. Szczecin, Wrocław, Łódź, Kraków and the Tricity (Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot) are other cities inhabited by the Vietnamese(Grzymała-Kazłowska 2008: 46-48). The commercial center of Tuszyn near Łódź is a commercial center of great importance as well. Wherever the Vietnamese settle permanently, they have shown a great economic initiative and business skills. These qualities caused that the relatively young "stereotype" of the Vietnamese-an as busy as a bee, conflict-less and well-

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mannered human, appeared and perpetuated in the perception of the Poles. 6. Social structure of the Vietnameseretrospection and modern times The analysis of the Vietnamese population in Poland encourages taking a closer look at it from the perspective of the social structure and various forms of activity. Nowadays, after nearly three decades of common coexistence in the foreign, socially and culturally specific environment, the analysis necessitates viewing this nationality in the context of dynamics and variability arising from the subconscious and the cultural assimilation of the two nations, which is repeatedly forced by factors independent of the will and inclination. The period of the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century naturally influenced acculturation and adaptation to new living conditions. This is affected not only by social and economic activity but also by the fact that the second generation of the Vietnamese students learning, studying and working in Polish companies and institutions has already been living in Poland. Although this area still leaves a huge niche for empirical research, a lot of new, unexplored but observable phenomena describing the second generation of the Vietnamese exist today. One of them is the complete unsealing, that is opening up to life outside the Vietnamese social structure. The other is the loss of contact with Vietnamese culture and mother tongue. The author’s experiences with Vietnamese students coming from Polish-Vietnamese families allow the observation that this applies mainly to people whose father is a Vietnamese and mother a Polish. This is, in a sense, surprising and informative about the significant changes in the national identity

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of the young "Polish" Vietnamese. Truthfully, even if this and many other areas of research will remain unexplored for a long time, they ought to be treated as a result of cultural change among young people succumbing to the latest trends of consumption and modernity. Cultural change does not only affect young people. While the origins of the second wave of immigration point to the almost complete isolationism of Vietnamese nationality, as evidenced by the existence of two VietTowns: Warsaw and Szczecin, for the time being, isolationism should be treated fragmentarily. The characteristic feature of then VietTowns was almost complete autonomy in terms of education, healthcare, culture, and laws as well, which was quickly dominated by Vietnamese lawyers educated at Polish universities. The level of Vietnamese community’s encapsulation was so significant that it limited any access to information about its social and everyday life. It was not until the mid-1990s that the relative social symbiosis in which both nations functioned broke the resistance to openness for the Poles. The "10th-Anniversary Stadium" itself became a focus of research targeted at social life and business, as well as petty and organized crime. The period of scientific interest in the Vietnamese has provided many valuable data on this nationality. Many of them already have historical value and describe this nationality as very differentiated in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, cultural specificity and consumer behavior. At the beginning of the immigration, the social structure of Vietnamese immigrants was not a unified social formation in terms of their social position, education, sex, age, time and reason for immigration and many other characteristics. The observation of social groups conducting business activity

on the "10th-Anniversary Stadium" in the years 2002-2003 and conversations with selected representatives of this nationality allowed the author to draw conclusions describing the social structure of the Vietnamese working at the "Stadium". It should be stressed that the immigration of Vietnamese people became a direct reason for social mobility, characterized by a change in social position on the worse (deprecating). It is significant that when deciding to emigrate from Vietnam, each immigrant was aware of the need to change a social status. Disregarding criminal structures (e.g. the Vietnamese cigarette mafia from Berlin), social positions of most immigrants were usually reduced to the "0" level, that is the level dependent on the capital with which a Vietnamese came to Poland. It frequently happened that highly educated people, even doctors or professors, who decided to immigrate to Europe for business purposes reduced their social position to "0". Considering the cost of arriving from Vietnam to Poland, which according to the interlocutors was about $-3,000 in the 1990s, it should be assumed that most of the immigrants started with this level, becoming indebted to traffickers (Sosin 2005). At that time, Europe became such an attractive destination for immigrants that, in order to reduce costs, the Vietnamese decided on a long journey, oftentimes risking illnesses and sometimes death, in containers, partly by sea, and partly by land, by foot or in container trucks. The accounts of Vietnamese people from the "10thAnniversary Stadium"-although very general and with a dose of fear-also described cases of roundups of women organized by criminal groups in order to make them work in European brothels or in private residences as vice girls. Trafficking in women and


children became a very lucrative business for criminal groups. For one woman they could receive EUR 3-6 thousand (Bodziany 2014: 203). The subsequent contractual levels of the social structure of "Stadium Vietnamese" were dependent on the time of stay in Poland and the level of income. On the basis of the author’s own hidden and direct observations and interlocutors' relationships, the following "Stadium" social groups forming stratification (layered) system influenced by their work and income were identified: Level "0"-the lowest social layer staying in Poland from 0 to 3 years (after 3 years they usually could afford to repay the credit for transport). They were physical workers who neither knew the Polish language nor the realities of the Polish economy, culture, and law, working on unloading wagons, delivering goods to wholesalers and retailers as well as doing most physical work outside the trade. They represented all social groups of the Vietnamese society regardless of education, sex, age, and occupation. Most of them were city dwellers. After repayment of debt, they were usually employed in trade or services, where they were building capital bases either to go to Western European countries or to create their own "business" in Poland. - Level "1"- the layer of employed persons who had repaid their credits and were employed by the Vietnamese running their own businesses. It lacked a time frame of stay in Poland because it was possible to remain at this level forever. Those who managed to reach level "2" worked in trading or services for about 2 years. - Level "2"-the layer of retailers or service providers offering transportation, catering, hairdressing, entertainment, press and many other services essential to the

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functioning of the trade. Only 10-15% of them had the chance to change the level to 3. - Level "3"-the layer of wholesale sellers, i.e. a social group with their own warehouses (boxes) with the commodity and several wholesale stands, also selling to retailers, including the Vietnamese, with the appropriate markup. This group constituted the Vietnamese middle class. Normally, it enjoyed benefits from the beginning of Vietnamese immigration to Poland, that is, it was working for the business success for several years. It is characterized by the knowledge of the Polish language and in many cases, the education acquired in Polish schools. - Level "4"-the higher layer (economic elite), represented by business circles with capital and trading contacts with the Poles. It derives from criminal environments that started business activity in Poland at the beginning of immigration and from elites educated in Poland and familiarized with the legal and economic realities. It was made up of former Vietnamese civil servants, police officers, and soldiers who came from Vietnam, as well as their children educated in Poland. There were other social groups beyond the above-listed levels, which included security representatives-usually young and athletic people whose duty was to maintain order in the Vietnamese trading sector, reduce theft of goods and interference with the Vietnamese’s interests from other nationalities. This contractual division is the effect of the author’s own observations conducted during the weekly "trips" to the "Stadium" supplemented by explanations of Vietnamese salespeople who spoke Polish. Each of the proposed layers can be, of course, divided into sub-layers in terms of the range of activity and responsibilities as

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well as the level of affluence. One observation is that the social structure of the "Stadium" Vietnamese has a reference to typical social structures in countries characterized by a free market economy. Given the number of 1285 stands leased by the Vietnamese retailers and wholesalers in 2003 and the average number of 2 people needed to maintain them, it is clear that about 2570 people were involved in direct trade. If 1 carrier to service 10 stands and a hard-to-estimate number of service providers as well as security service, accountants, lawyers, and owners are added, the "Stadium" population of the Vietnamese without their dependents was over 3,000. At present, in the realities of civilization of trade in Wólka Kosowska and in other places dominated by the Vietnamese, the levels of social stratification have undergone significant transformation. The level "0" has almost completely changed, as employed unqualified Vietnamese or other nationalities replaced immigrants “on credit”. Most retailers and wholesalers represent the middle or upper class having their own apartments or in many cases houses. These are people at least partially assimilated with the Poles; their children learn in good schools or take up studies at faculties considered as difficult and demanding. The economic elite has also changed, because it is no longer as centralized as it was in the "Stadium" case and, most importantly, has legalized most of the business activities. Local economic elites have developed within its frameworkspecialized in a segment of economic activity. The fact of almost complete encapsulation of the Vietnamese community in the area of economic cooperation with the Poles, the Chinese, the Turks and other nationalities is an essential change, which gives the basis for searching for correctness

in relations with specific nationalities and description of their stereotype in the Vietnamese’s perception. Speaking of which, in the most general terms, the Poles in the perception of the Vietnamese represent mostly positive features such as hard-working, entrepreneurial, open, hospitable, without a shadow of aggression and, interestingly, relatively tolerant and noisy. Whereas Vietnamese people in the perception of the Poles are now considered to be successful and entrepreneurial people, stubborn in their pursuit of purpose, pragmatic, but closed and mistrustful. It is worth emphasizing that the attitude of the Poles to the Vietnamese has changed over the past few years. The first-comers from Vietnam, i.e. students and doctoral students, enjoyed the Poles' sympathy and goodwill. However, the expansion of economic immigrants made the relationship begin to change. Not only the scale of immigration but also the socio-demographic characteristics of the "new" immigrants from Vietnam influenced this perception. They were persons no longer educated or interested in studying, but partly coming from provinces, uneducated, focused on intensive gainful employment, linguistically incompetent and less open to culture and contacts with host society representatives. The unprecedented economic expansion that sourced their perception as competition proved to be another force for change (Grzymała-Kazłowska 2008: 119-120). For several years there has been a trend towards disappearance of negative descriptors of the stereotyped view of a Vietnamese in the perception of the Poles in favor of entrepreneurship, courtesy, personal culture, good education, and competence. This is because the Vietnamese have ceased to be identified with a "glass house"-the symbol of the cultural reluctance to the


Poles and self-isolation, and have ceased to be "ghosts" - an invisible diaspora closed in their own world of trade and crime (Bodziany 2014: 199-204). This means that the Vietnamese are increasingly open to cultural differences, which contributes to the growing cultural competence of both them and the Poles. Not only is this the result of the ever-increasing opening of Vietnamese people to contacts with the Poles but also the polarity reversal of the perception of threats to other immigrant groups such as the Ukrainians, whose population grew to 1.4 million over the past 2 years. The author’s own research (quantitative) carried out in 2016 on a sample of 956 Polish students from Wrocław, Katowice, Kielce, and Warsaw, concerning the perception of foreigners in Poland, showed that the Vietnamese were perceived by the respondents as a minority that did not threaten either the Polish culture or the labor market but as a minority of high intellectual level and personal culture as well as oriented towards success and avoiding conflict with the law. Taking into consideration the study of the 1990s, which outlined a rather negative stereotype of the Vietnamese, it can be concluded that they are becoming-against the background of other nationalities viewed rather neutrally and negatively-a nationality enriching Polish culture as well as economy and entrepreneurship. In particular, entrepreneurship became a showcase of the Vietnamese, which was demonstrated by financial success, resulting from the ability to use market niches. The example is one of the present-day millionaires Ngoc Tu Tao, who first started selling famous "Chinese soups" in Poland, now has a fortune valued at over PLN 100 million and has become one of the richest people in Poland. Initially, in 1991 he founded a Tan-Viet food company in

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Gdansk and engaged in importing Asian spices, sauces, and food additives. However, the sale of VIFON instant soups, commonly known as Chinese soups, brought him the most considerable success. At present, the products of this company can be found in 70% of shops in Poland. Interestingly, the giants of the food industry Knorr and Unilever has become the competition for Tao, who, having seen the success and profit, also started the production of Chinese instant soups (Robią Sajgon w Warszawie 2014). There are numerous examples of spectacular economic successes, however, the relation of one of Vietnamese graduates of the Polish higher school institution from Szczecin reveals a cultural and social phenomenon of this nationality. The student described the realities of the beginnings of capitalism after 1989 in the following way: "After graduation I stayed and traded, then this was free-for-all. I was ashamed of this activity, so I went to Świnoujście from Szczecin with a backpack full of blouses. I took a stand at the market and sold everything in a few hours, then returned to Szczecin. Vietnamese doctoral students were usually involved in sourcing clothes from Vietnam. These were mainly blouses and windcheaters. Everything sold like hotcakes. I remember one of the Ph.D. students was also ashamed to trade in Szczecin and he stood here, in Warsaw, trading in jackets. There weren’t Municipal Guards, fortunately, and even if they were, they did not pay attention anyway (…). This was the beginning of capitalism in Polandthe Poles were standing and trading eggs, and next to them the Vietnamese were spreading a meter of material. This is how today's Vietnamese businessmen, who now own a shopping center in Wólka Kosowska, started. In the further part of the speech the

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person referred to the times of the "10thAnniversary Stadium": “(...) For almost two decades the Vietnamese have accumulated the capital they have today. At first they were poor but they worked and saved. Please note that the Vietnamese live in all elite closed settlements" (Skrzypiec 2015). Stubbornness in pursuit of purpose, thriftiness, and diligence caused that the "Polish Vietnamese" from the beginning of the second wave of immigration have become the people of economic elites and, in many cases, spiritual, as evidenced by their education and cultural activity. The account of one of the Vietnamese businessmen, Karol Hoangtak, describes his compatriots: "I know the Poles are surprised that every Vietnamese wants to work on his account. Here even people, who at 3 am pull their carts to Wólka (Wólka Kosowska) think about opening a bar or some other small business (…) But bear in mind that we are the same immigrants as the Poles in London. We left to create by ourselves our own chance for a better life. (...) Is Poland a promised land to the Vietnamese? They started with bars with spring rolls, and today they buy residences, limos, are visible in shopping malls. The first generation has already made fortunes. Now 30-year-olds are entering the business" (Molga 2015). No measure can compare the success of Vietnamese immigrants with the work of the Poles in Great Britain, Norway, Germany or other countries to which they emigrated "for bread". Since 2004 there has been no single case that a Pole abroad has become the owner of a large company, working for it from nothing. The successes of the Vietnamese in the economic field are the extremely interesting subject for economists and sociologists, but they are not the only ones that create research prospects for researchers. Divisions

among the young Vietnamese are the new direction of research. Relations between the Vietnamese who are the second generation of migrants, i.e. those who were raised or even born in Poland, and the young Vietnamese who grew up in Vietnam and have only recently arrived in Poland (often for economic purposes) are the subject of research. A serious dichotomy in lifestyle and tensions arising on economic grounds are noticeable between these groups. The phenomenon that existed in Polish schools in the 1990s between the young Poles and young Vietnamese learners-the so-called civilization discrepancy, which has cognitive sources in the level of cultural assimilation, the scale of participation in Western mass culture and consumption as well as valuation "own" vs. "strange", "better" vs. "worse", becomes apparent. Nowadays, this phenomenon takes on a similar form to that of the third generation of the Muslims in Europe and immigrants and refugees arriving there. One of the opinions quoted by the authors of the report "Migrant economic institutions and their effect on the environment" describes this phenomenon as follows: "(…) we are civilized here, brought up in Europe, we know how to behave, and those who come from Vietnam are uneducated, they want to earn money quickly, squander the money, show-off ostentatiously (…) and they were often called those of Wólka" (Klorek and Szulecka 2013: 43). Thus, the formation of antagonisms and intra-ethnic distances based on the economic factor is visible. This and many other comments point to the small but noticeable stratification even at the level of the "old" and "new" Vietnamese economic elites. The analysis of quantitative data describing the Vietnamese community in 2004-2015 shows the patriarchal model of


the male-dominated society. In the period under review, they constituted, on average, 55% of the total number of all of the Vietnamese legally residing in Poland. Their highest percentage was in 2004-67%, while in 2015-2016, the gender structure of Vietnamese legal persons in Poland was relatively proportional. Another observation suggests that the "Polish Vietnamese" are mostly young people at working age, learning or running their own entrepreneurial activity or employed by Vietnamese or Chinese, less frequently Turkish or Polish, businessmen. In 2004, 73% of the Vietnamese represented a cohort (age range) aged 20 to 49, and 12% were under the age of 20. Few, because as many as 4%, were at the retirement age (in a Polish respect)-at least 60 years old. Relatively good education is another feature of Vietnamese people in Poland. On average, between 2004 and 2015, 80% completed at least secondary education and only 7% had basic or lower education. They live mainly in big cities in Poland. Due of the two-generation nature of the social structure, the time of stay in Poland is an important element of the analysis. Depending on the year in question and by virtue of the rotational nature of migration (balancing of populations immigrating to Poland with the population migrating from Poland to the West and returns), the duration of stay in Poland varies widely. The oldest Vietnamese come from the "generation of pioneers" who arrived in Poland in the 1950s and are mostly assimilated with the Poles, often live in two-ethnic families Polish-Vietnamese. People living in Poland for a dozen or so years, who arrived in Poland in the late 1990s, established their

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own business and stabilized material lives constitute the largest percentage. In most cases, they are people with families of four/five, including children who were either born in Poland or have arrived with their parents as infants. Currently, Vietnamese children learn in schools together with Polish children, which allows them to build positive mutual relationships as well as assess their behavior and learning outcomes. The information from teachers and opinion reports suggests that Vietnamese children in Polish schools do not seem to cause pedagogical or educational problems. Tomasz Ziewie, Principal of the Primary School No. 25 in Warsaw aptly describes the reality of the coexistence of the Vietnamese and Polish children: "These children assimilate rather quickly, fall into class relationships, they are liked by teachers. They learn well, their homework is always done. They are, above all, daring children. We call them Vietnamese children because of their origin, but in many cases, we can say that they are already Polish children. Small Vietnamese usually do better than adults with the Polish language” (Wietnamczycy w Polsce 2008; Halik 2006: 62-63). Apart from immigrants, Vietnamese people who came to Poland after 1989 for studies or scholarships are a separate social group. While there were only a few of them in Poland in the 1990s, there was an exponential increase in their number in the academic year 2003/2004. In the year in question, 266 Vietnamese people were trained free of charge, including 182 students, 45 doctoral students and 39 people taking Polish language courses. Their number dropped to 40 students in 2006, in

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favor of students paying tuition fees or within the framework of inter-institutional cooperation and mobility schemes. Since 2006, the highest level of cooperation has been demonstrated by the following universities: the Jagiellonian University, the Warszawski University, the Łódzki University, the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, as well as the Warsaw University of Technology, the Silesian University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow and the Agricultural University of Szczecin (The Department of Migration Policy 2007: 36). In the academic year 2015/2016 more than 57 thousand (from 157 countries) foreign students studied in Poland, of whom 234 represented Vietnam, which in relation to the previous year means an increase of 29 people (Śliwńska 2016). Contemporary research shows that a positive set of characteristics and a high level of knowledge and skills describe Vietnamese students. Despite cultural differences, they swiftly assimilate in Polish academic circles, are more attentive than the Poles or students of other nationalities, are not late for classes, take studies more seriously and are less frequently absent. It is an important observation that they devote to learning at home three hours a week more than students from other developing countries. The young Vietnamese are not afraid of mathematics and have a strong conviction that it will be useful in the future. The most important thing is, however, that they are predisposed to the science and definitely ahead of students from other countries in the level of knowledge and skills in mathematics and physics (Bussines

Insider Polska 2017)7. With these qualities, a Vietnamese-a graduate of a Polish higher education institution (subject to obtaining a residence permit)-very quickly undertakes work in Poland and repeatedly starts own business venture. 7. Conclusion The issues discussed in the article are only a slice of problems accompanying the existence of the Vietnamese in the Polish lands. The "new" story, built on the pillars of perseverance, courage and hard work, shaped a new type of national minority in Poland-"socially invisible", achieving economic and educational success, caring about its own identity, but identifying with Poland, effectively adapting to legal and political conditions, but acting on the verge of legality, and respecting other nationalities and their culture and yet relatively resistant to their influence. This is a kind of phenomenon that shows the Vietnamese, on the one hand, as a nation with a powerful survival force in adverse social and political circumstances, with a natural inclination to expand and build its own success in a dangerous and economically competitive environment, creating closed but vulnerable 7

The recently published work by the researchers of the World Bank Suhas D. Parandekar and Elisabeth K. Sedmik seeks to answer this question. They studied the results of the 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) study. The survey included seven other developing countries in addition to Vietnam, and Vietnam, with a GDP per capita of $-4 098, was the poorest among them. Nonetheless, Vietnamese students received much better marks than students from other developing countries. Vietnam's ratings are at a much higher level than expected-closer to Finland and Switzerland than to Colombia or Peru. The results of the tests have shown that the difference in the level of mathematical knowledge between Vietnam and the rest of developing and other countries participating in PISA is almost three years.


to influences of mass culture and consumption enclaves, which have their own specificity and culturally endemic character. The analysis of selected areas of the Vietnamese's existence in Poland entails the conclusion that their cultural assimilationcontrary to the original predictions-has become a fact, and its boundaries visible at the beginning of immigration resulting from cultural elements such as traditions, customs, ethnic language, religion, and lifestyle seem to fade away. This is not through the conscious acculturation to the Polish culture but is related to the emergence of a certain kind of cultural hybrids based on combining elements of national culture with mass culture and subconscious adaptation to the components of the Polish culture. This is a natural process resulting from participation in social life, especially of the young Vietnamese, who are active and open to changes, showing the propensity to identify with Poland-with the country of their ancestors' dreams, as Ton Van said, "with the country where princesses live". References Bodziany, Marek. 2014. „„Duchy z Dalekiego Wschodu” w „szklanym domu”, czyli o wietnamskiej diasporze na ziemiach polskich”, pp. 194-225. in:, Dom Otwarty/Dom Zamknięty? Lekcje pogranicza. Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia (X/XI w.). edited by Bożena Górczyńska-Przybyłowicz. Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje. Poznań. Bussines Insider Polska. 2017. „Wietnamscy uczniowie zadziwiająco dobrze zdają testy. Naukowcy odkryli powód”, (http://businessinsider.com.pl/wietnamscystudenci-zadziwiajaco-dobrze-zdaja-testydlaczego/x54mpbl). Dostęp z dnia 05.07.2017

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Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 3, No 5 (2017) 586-608

Người nhập cư Việt Nam ở Ba Lan-Ba thập kỷ trải nghiệm Marek Bodziany Tóm tắt: Ba thập kỷ trải nghiệm chung của người Ba Lan và người Việt Nam tại Ba Lan gợi lên những suy ngẫm về khả năng đồng hóa văn hóa và cả hội nhập xã hội trong những năm tới. Sự thực thì lịch sử chung của họ trên dải đất Ba Lan có thể tính từ những năm 1950; tuy nhiên, giai đoạn mới trong quan hệ qua lại giữa họ với nhau là kết quả của sự gia tăng những người nhập cư Việt Nam trên lãnh thổ Ban Lan sau năm 1989 do sự sụp đổ của khối Đông Âu. Ngày nay, trên cơ sở nhìn lại quá khứ, một số câu hỏi được đặt ra liên quan đến lý do người Việt Nam nhập cư vào Ba Lan cũng như cuộc sống của họ trong môi trường xa lạ và đồng nhất về mặt văn hóa này. Quy mô nhập cư, sự khác biệt văn hóa của người Việt Nam, đặc trưng về cấu trúc xã hội và những vấn đề liên quan đến đời sống chứng tỏ tầm quan trọng của việc nghiên cứu về cộng đồng rất đáng quan tâm này. Thêm nữa, họ còn hướng sự chú ý đến hiện tượng bị đè nặng bởi các quan điểm xã hội trái ngược nhau. Đó là khả năng của người Việt Nam thích nghi trên cả phương diện kinh tế lẫn xã hội và những ý kiến trái ngược nhau về sự thiếu kết nối giữa lĩnh vực xã hội (được củng cố bởi các quan hệ tương đối tích cực với người Ba Lan) với lĩnh vực kinh tế (liên quan đến hoạt động kinh tế và việc làm chủ doanh nghiệp) cũng như khuynh hướng xã hội về sự đồng nhất văn hóa. Từ khóa: Người nhập cư Việt Nam; Ba Lan; hòa nhập văn hóa, đồng hóa văn hóa, cùng chung sống.