FRANCE: THOUSANDS OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN REFUGEES CREATE COLOURFUL ATMOSPHERE BUT LEAD TO PROBLEMS FOR SOCIAL AID AGENCIES.

Record ID: 274883

  • Title: FRANCE: THOUSANDS OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN REFUGEES CREATE COLOURFUL ATMOSPHERE BUT LEAD TO PROBLEMS FOR SOCIAL AID AGENCIES.
  • Date: 17th May 1976
  • Summary: 1. GV PAN Church 0.05 2. CU Church sign 0.06 3. MV Women distribute pamphlets (2 shots) 0.13 4. SV Refugees coming out of church (4 shots) 0.37 5. CU Sign Boulevard St. Germain 0.38 6. SV & MV Vietnamese shop (3 shots) 0.48 7. SV South Vietnamese shops (2 shots) 0.56 8. MV S. Vietnamese refugees shopping (2 shots) 1
  • Embargoed: 1st June 1976 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA2YP6HB4P550XF7YHXH5IAD9UK
  • Story Text: The number of Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians living in Paris, France, has quadrupled since 1973, resulting in a fast growth of Asian shops and in problems for social aid agencies.

    In all, about 5,000 people have come from Vietnam since the Communists took over South Vietnam last year and it's estimated that they're about half of the refugees received in France in 1975.

    The French Foreign Office issues about 1,200 visas each month to Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians.

    The government began an airlift last August and it was anxious to negotiate its future status with the Saigon regime. It wanted to avoid a repetition of the loss of substantial assets as happened in North Vietnam after 1954.

    French investment in South Vietnam in 1973 was estimated at 1,000 million frances (about GBP 109 million), with important stakes in rubber plantation, commercial vehicles, banks and transport.

    One of the social aid agencies which is particularly concerned with refugees from Vietnam is the Catholic Vietnamese Mission. It has about 60 temporary housing centres and has found its work is getting more difficult.

    On Saturday and Sunday (15/16 May) the mission and a weekend of help and friendship for the Vietnamese. They served free meals and organised a church service at the St. Pierre de Chaillot church in Paris.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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