Image: Refugee camp in Thailand. Detail of a mural (2016) by Jackie Yang at the East Side Freedom Library in Saint Paul, MN. Funded by the Knight Foundation.
Laotian Immigrants in the Twin Cities
The first major wave of immigration from Laos began in the 1970s, following a long period of conflict and instability. From 1959 to 1975, Laos was embroiled in a civil war between the communist-aligned Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government, which served as a proxy for the Cold War. The conflict was exacerbated by spillover from the Vietnam War, economic hardship, and the U.S. bombing campaign. When the Pathet Lao emerged victorious, those who had aligned with the Royal Lao Government and the United States faced persecution. Many fled across the Mekong river to Thailand and came to the United States as refugees.
The Hmong are an ethnic group with populations in Laos and neighboring countries such as Vietnam and China. During the period of upheaval in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, the CIA recruited and trained Hmong people in Laos to fight the North Vietnamese Army and the Pathet Lao in what became known as the “Secret War.” After the CIA withdrew from Laos, Hmong people faced retaliation and displacement, creating a refugee crisis.