Cambodians in France

Cambodians in France consist of ethnic Khmer people who were born in or immigrated to France. The population as of 2020 was estimated to be about 20,000 making the community one of the largest in the Cambodian diaspora. The Cambodian population in France is the most established outside Southeast Asia, with a presence dating to well before the Vietnam War and subsequent Indochina refugee crisis including the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge who took over in Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975. a few numbers of Cambodian people were able to escape and migrate to France before the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia as the Cambodian Civil War came to an end and overthrow U.S.-backed military dictatorship of Lon Nol and the Khmer Republic. His brother Lon Non and the other Khmer officials were arrested and executed by the CPK, the Marxist-Leninist dictatorship that seized power in Phnom Penh. 13 days before the Fall of Saigon and the Second Indochina War ended on 30 April 1975. Cambodian immigration to France began in the later half of the 19th century, when Cambodia became a French protectorate. The first wave of migrants largely consisted of students and workers belonging to the country's elite class, including members of the royal family. During World War I, soldiers and civilians in the French colonial empire were recruited to help with the war effort in Metropolitan France. About 2,000 Cambodians arrived in France during the conflict period. Following Cambodian independence in 1953, many students and professionals from Cambodia continued to arrive in France. While most of these individuals returned to their home country after a brief sojourn, as the Cambodian Civil War erupted in the late 1960s, most opted to remain permanently in France and sponsored the immigration of family members. With a Cambodian community already established since the early 20th century, the Paris region was the destination of choice for both Cambodian immigrants arriving in France and those studying or working elsewhere in the country.