Vietnamese People - Diaspora

Diaspora

Originally from northern Vietnam and southern China, the Vietnamese have conquered much of the land belonging to the Champa Kingdom and Khmer Empire over the centuries. They are the dominant ethnic group in most provinces of Vietnam, and constitute a significant portion of the population of Cambodia.

Under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, they were the most persecuted group. Tens of thousands were murdered in regime-organized massacres. Most of the survivors fled to Vietnam.

During the sixteenth century, some Vietnamese migrated into Thailand and China. In Thailand, they are mostly distributed in Isan provinces such as Nakhon Phanom or Mukdahan. In China, although somewhat more sinicized, their descendants still speak Vietnamese and form the Gin people of China. They are among the recognized minority groups in the People's Republic of China based especially in or around Guangxi Province.

When the French left Vietnam in 1954, some Vietnamese emigrated to France. However, some ethnic Vietnamese had already resided and/or studied in France at least since the end of World War I (1918). As a result of the partition of North and South Vietnam, nearly one million Vietnamese fled the North for the South to escape persecution. Meanwhile, a much smaller number of southerners joined the north.

The end of the Vietnam War prompted millions to flee the country escaping from the new Communist regime and Communists from the North. Recognizing an international humanitarian crisis, many countries accepted Vietnamese refugees, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, West Germany, Sweden, and Australia. Tens of thousands had been sent to work or study in Central and Eastern Europe and later settled there after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the vast majority among those from the north or those who stayed in reunified Vietnam after 1975.