Vietnamese people in Belgium or Vietnamese Belgian refers to people of Vietnamese ancestry who were born in or immigrated to Belgium. The population of the community is about 14,000 as of 2012.

History

The first Vietnamese migrants to Belgium consisted of students and diplomats from

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

beginning in 1965, when the South Vietnamese government sought for stronger relations with other

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

nations following a minor rift with France. Belgium soon became a popular alternative to France for South Vietnamese students seeking higher education and career opportunities, especially in the cities of Brussels,

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

and

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

. A much larger influx of Vietnamese immigrants arrived as refugees following the Fall of Saigon, beginning in 1978. Similarly to their counterparts in France, South Vietnamese refugees to Belgium were largely of higher socioeconomic standing and integrated much easier into their host country's society due to better linguistic and cultural knowledge than their peers who settled in North America, Australia and the rest of Europe. Following the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

in 1989, a number of Vietnamese workers in former

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

countries who were sponsored by the communist government of Vietnam sought asylum in Belgium. This included many guest workers in the former East Germany who were encouraged by the German government to be repatriated back to their home country following German reunification.

Demographics and culture

A large proportion of the Vietnamese Belgian population resides in Brussels and the surrounding area, with a Vietnamese business district centered along Boulevard Anspach. The rest of the Vietnamese Belgian community is largely concentrated in the southern French-speaking Wallonia region, especially around the city of

. The Vietnamese community in Belgium maintains strong relations with its counterpart community in France. Before the establishment of Vietnamese businesses and community institutions in Belgium during the late 1970s, Vietnamese Belgians would travel to Paris for various purposes, such as buying Vietnamese grocery products and seeking immigrant needs. In terms of religion, the vast majority of Vietnamese Belgians are at least nominal

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, following the Mahayana branch with influences from Confucian philosophy. The influx of Vietnamese immigrants into Belgium created a visible Buddhist community in the country, with temples serving as both spiritual and community centers, and have also attracted non-Vietnamese worshippers.Bernard De Backer, ''Bouddhismes en Belgiqu''e from ''Courrier hebdomadaire'', n°1768-1769, Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques, Bruxelles, 2002, pp. 5-70

Socioeconomics

The Vietnamese community in Belgium is largely well-integrated into Belgian society. Among immigrants from the former South Vietnam, initial strong knowledge of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

allowed them to pursue studies and careers despite their recent arrival. While some Vietnamese immigrants did settle in the Flanders region and learned Dutch, most relocated to Brussels or Wallonia. Meanwhile, Belgian-born Vietnamese have extremely high rates of success in education, at many times outperforming their peers and having a high rate of enrollment in higher education.

Notable people

Quynh Anh Quynh Anh Pham (born 16 January 1987 in Liège, Belgium) is a Vietnamese-Belgian singer. Singing career From the early age, Quynh Anh participated in numerous music activities in Mons. In September 2000, her father enrolled her in the TV s ...

References

{{Overseas Vietnamese Belgium Demographics of Belgium Ethnic groups in Belgium

History

Demographics and culture

Socioeconomics

Notable people

See also

References