Vietnamese people in France

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The Vietnamese people in France consists of people of Vietnamese ancestry who were born in or immigrated to France. The population is 250,000, as of 2006.

History

The presence of Vietnamese people in France began in the early 1900s, due to the colonization of Vietnam by France. There was a significant representation of Vietnamese students in France throughout the period, as well as Vietnamese migrants and the sons and daughters of the nobility and royal household. The last Emperor of Vietnam, Bảo Đại, received his education in France. However, after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, a larger presence of Vietnamese people arrived in France as refugees .One of the few monuments dating back to the earliest waves of Vietnamese arriving in France is the Temple du Souvenir Indochinois, originally erected in 1907 and subsequently relocated to in the Jardin tropical de Paris.
Unlike their counterparts in North America or Australia, the Vietnamese have not formed distinct enclaves within the major cities of France (although many Vietnamese-based shops can be found in the Chinatown neighborhood of Paris) and the degree of assimilation is higher than in the United States, Canada, or Australia, due to better cultural, historical, and linguistic knowledge of the host country.
The community is still strongly attached to its homeland while being well-integrated in the French society. As the first generation of French Vietnamese refugees continues to hold on to traditional values, the second generation of French-born Vietnamese strongly identifies with the French culture rather than the Vietnamese one and most of them are unable to speak and/or understand the Vietnamese language. The level of integration of immigrants and their place in French society have become prominent issues in France in the past decade. French media and politicians generally view the Vietnamese community as a model minority, in part because they are represented as having a high degree of integration within the French society as well as economic and academic success. However, demeaning racial stereotypes about Asians (lumping Chinese and Vietnamese people together) are far from uncommon in France. Most of the French Vietnamese live in Paris area but a sizeable number also reside in the major urban centers in the south-east of the country, primarily Marseille and Lyon.

Culture

The educational system in France, unlike Canada and other European countries, doesn't emphasise a multicultural society. As a result, even though first-generation Vietnamese in France try to preserve their culture and use the Vietnamese language within their community, those belonging to the second or third generations know very little about the country of their ancestors and do not use Vietnamese.
In a survey conducted in the 1990s, 41% of those between 11 and 30 years indicated that they grew up in a Buddhist environment, while 28% indicated that they grew up in a Catholic environment.
Holidays observed by the Vietnamese in France include Tết, Vu Lan, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition, those who support the Hanoi government also commemorate International Women's Day, the Fall of Saigon, and Vietnamese National Day.

Politics

In the early 1980s, the rate of naturalisation of Vietnamese in France was 5%, among the highest rates for immigrants in France (compared with about 0.25% for Algerians, the largest immigrant community). The 1999 census showed that about 75% of those who held Vietnamese nationality received French citizenship.

While having high rates of naturalisation, they rarely follow French politics, rarely participating in local and national elections. They usually become French citizens for economic rather than political reasons. While they don't follow French politics, they follow Vietnamese politics closely and in the past played pivotal roles in the Vietnamese political landscape in the early 20th century.

After 1975, the Vietnamese community in France is divided into two opposing camps: those supporting the communist Hanoi government and those who are anticommunists. Almost all organisations in the community, including religious and commercial entities, fall in one of the two camps. Those who support the Hanoi government self-identify as "immigrants" while those who are anticommunists self-identify as "refugees". The two camps have contradictory political goals and members of one group rarely interact with members of the other group.

Supporters of the Hanoi government

Those who support the Hanoi government coalesce under the umbrella group Union Général des Vietnamiens de France (UGVF). UGVF is well-organised and is recognised by the government of Vietnam. Members of this group consist of those who arrived in France prior to 1975 and their descendants; they have more stable economic conditions. Many UGVF members are also members of the French Communist Party while some are members of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Prior to 1975, the goal of UGVF was to advocate for an end to the Vietnam War and to provide support to the Hanoi government. After the communist victory in 1975, many UGVF members planned to repatriate to help rebuild the country, but they were viewed as a threat by the government due to their Western background. Those who were trained in the Soviet Union were viewed more favorably because they were considered to have more palatable political views. When they return to Vietnam, the Vietnamese from France could not find jobs comparable to those they held in France. From then on, they advocate forming a permanent expatriate community in France. Their goals also changed to maintaining Vietnamese culture for later generations. The French government considers UGVF a communist organisation and their political activities were clandestine until 1981, when they were recognised by the Socialist government.

UGVF organises many festivals for major Vietnamese holidays such as Tết and the Mid-Autumn Festival. These events always include the presence of the Vietnamese ambassador to France. UGVF members also created many other organisations to compete with the anti-communist groups for the support of the post-1975 refugees within the community. However, these organisations do not clearly state their affiliation with UGVF because many refugees will stop supporting them if they learn about the connections..

While UGVF is not a front for Vietnamese communists in France, its political outlook is closely aligned with the Hanoi government. Some French-born UGVF members saw it as too dependent on Hanoi.. They have also started activism on other concerns, such as fighting discrimination.

Anticommunists

Unlike the Hanoi supporters, the anticommunists don't unite under any single group, but they share the same view of opposing the communist regime in Vietnam. Prior to 1975, there were very few anticommunist groups operating in France. After 1975, with the arrival of boat people refugees in large numbers, their activities dramatically increased.. These groups comprise of refugees arriving in France after 1975, so their economic situation is less stable, and they are not as organised as UGVF.

While UGVF seeks to portray the Vietnamese community in France as a united community supportive of the government, the anticommunist groups seek to inform mainstream French that there are fundamental differences in political views among the community.. They often stage protests against the Vietnamese government, often advocating boycotts against businesses with ties to UGVF.

Vietnamese in other French territories

There have been official reports of some Vietnamese in other territories of the French Republic. In French Guiana, the Hmong people are one of the main Asian communities, some originating from Vietnam. In New Caledonia, 1.4% of the population are Vietnamese. In French Polynesia, the Vietnamese community are part of the 4.7% East Asian community. In Réunion, the Vietnamese people are usually found in Sino-Réunionnais (Chinese people in Réunion) communities.