Laotians in France consist of people of
Lao ancestry who were born in or immigrated to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. The population as of 2017 is estimated to be 200,000.
The Laotian community in France forms the most established
overseas Laotian population outside of Southeast Asia, with a presence in the country dating to before the end of the
Laotian Civil War and mass refugee migration that resulted from it.
History
The presence of Laotian people in France began during the early 20th century, when Laos was a
protectorate of France. With the steady introduction of the French education system by the colonists, a number of Laotian students were able to study in France, including members of the
Lao Royal Family
The Lao Royal Family was the ruling family of the Kingdom of Laos from 1904 to 1975 and the group of close relatives of the monarch of the Kingdom of Laos. King Sisavang Vong was the founder of the modern family, consisting of a number of persons ...
. A smaller number of Laotian workers also settled in France during this period.
Following Laotian independence in 1953 and the
Geneva Accords, a significant number of Lao continued to immigrate to France. This wave of migrants initially consisted of those loyal to the colonial government, followed by students and middle class entrepreneurs who arrived throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Community organizations were established by this group of migrants to better serve Laotian immigrant and expatriate needs, and would form the base of Laotian cultural institutions for later immigrants.
However, the largest influx of Laotians immigrated to France following the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and communist takeover of their homeland. France was an ideal destination for Laotian refugees who were educated or formed part of the elite and middle class in the home nation, while poorer refugees tended to emigrate to North America and Australia through the assistance of the American, Canadian and Australian governments. By the beginning of the 1980s, 25,000 Laotian refugees had arrived in France. Lao Buddhist temples and associations established by immigrants who had arrived in France prior to the refugee influx had an effect in helping these arrivals adjust to life in a new country and have served as vital cultural and community centers.
Culture and demographics
Unlike their counterpart communities in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and
Australia, Laotians in France are more successful and better integrated into the host country due to stronger knowledge of the nation's social aspects, such as culture, language, and history.
Although the issue of immigrant groups and their level of assimilation has been an important issue in French politics, the Laotian community is highly integrated into French society, with high average rates of educational and economic achievement, especially among the generations of French-born Lao.
The majority of Laotians in France live in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and the surrounding
Île-de-France
The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
region, where many Lao-based businesses and community organizations are located in the
Quartier Asiatique
The Quartier asiatique (Asian Quarter), also called Triangle de Choisy or Petite Asie (Chinese: 巴黎唐人街, Vietnamese: ''Phố Tàu Paris'') is the largest commercial and cultural center for the Asian community of Paris. It is located in t ...
neighborhood of the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Smaller communities reside in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
,
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
, and
Strasbourg. While the generation of immigrants to France tries to preserve Laotian culture and uses the Lao language among the community, the generations born in France are increasingly influenced by French culture, with many members of the generations being unable to understand or speak Lao. Cultural organizations are present to serve both immigrant and French-born Lao, including weekend Lao-language schools for the latter group.
Laotian Buddhist temples serve as community and cultural centers for the Laotian population in France, and important traditional holidays such as
Lao New Year and the
Pha That Luang Festival are observed in addition to French holidays.
Politics
While the rate of naturalization among Laotian immigrants is high, the community is not actively involved in French politics. Instead, many in the generation of refugees tend to closely monitor politics in Laos. Additionally, the community is largely anti-communist and opposes the one-party rule of the
Lao People's Revolutionary Party
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The party's monopoly on state power is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Constitution of Laos, and it maintains a unitar ...
in the home country since the end of the
Laotian Civil War. Earlier Lao immigrants and expatriates to France historically played important roles in shaping the politics of Laos during the early and mid-20th century.
As a result of the community's well-established presence in its host country compared to other Western nations where Laotian refugees and immigrants settled, the Laotian French community has played a key role in serving as a model to assist counterpart diaspora communities with integration through socioeconomic and community organizational links. Laotian community leaders in France also founded ''l'Organisation Laotienne pour les Réfugiés et la Concorde nationale'' (OLREC) in 1990 to advocate for the resettlement of remaining Lao refugees still in camps to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
.
[Chekroun, Randa]
Le Laos, ses richesses, sa diaspora et son succès face à la Covid-19
Forim, 15 Oct 2020. (in French)
Notable individuals
*
Willy Denzey
William Thongrasamy (born 19 August 1982), known under the pseudonym Willy Denzey, is a Contemporary R&B and soul French-born singer of Laotian origin.
Biography
Denzey was born in Melun, France, and spent his childhood in Le Mée-sur-Seine. A ...
, singer
*
Billy Ketkeophomphone, football player
*
Kayane, fighting games player and journalist
See also
*
History of Laos
Evidence for modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, that constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians ...
*
French Laos, French protectorate of Laos
*
French language in Laos
French is spoken by a significant minority in Laos. Laos has the second largest Francophone community in Southeast Asia after Vietnam, with Cambodia coming in third. French is used as a diplomatic and commercial language and is also studied by over ...
References
Notes
Sources
*. A study of Laotian refugees in Paris.
*
*
Further reading
*
{{Laotian diaspora
Asian diaspora in France
Ethnic groups in France
France–Laos relations
Laotian diaspora
Immigration to France by country of origin