Presentation on "The Colonial Adoption Movement"

Professor Yves Dénéchère began his presentation by reviewing some perspectives and definitions of the concept of “children”. According to researcher Philippe Ariès, children are considered miniature adults, with all the intelligence and personality of adults. According to philosopher Dominique Bourg, children are an agent contributing to the development of society. Accordingly, it can be seen that the concept of “children” is a cultural and social construct; it is also a norm and ideal. Children are conceived as part of the development cycle of human life.

In the world, children's rights have become part of human rights, recognized in international documents, most notably the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, child studies is an interdisciplinary field, involving many sciences from history, sociology, philosophy, psychology to anthropology. In-depth studies on children were initiated in the 1970s in the United States, then spread to other countries.

Next, Professor Yves Dénéchère presented the phenomenon of mixed-race Vietnamese-French children. In the history of Vietnam-France in the 20th century, many mixed-race children were born as a result of relationships between French expeditionary officers and soldiers and Vietnamese women. According to estimates, from 1947-79, about 5,000 mixed-race Vietnamese-French children were born, of which the period 1946-1954 was the peak. Mixed-race children were seen by the French government not only as normal children, but also as an additional source to the population of France. Therefore, the French government instructed the Charitable Association for Children in Indochina to bring these children back to the motherland, helping them escape the difficult life when Vietnam was divided into two regions.

Prof. Yves Dénéchère (middle) presents his presentation.

Mixed-race children were brought to France by sea or air. After arriving in France, the Charitable Association helped them find jobs, marry French people, and receive psychological support. However, after 1954, the purpose of bringing mixed-race children from Vietnam to France gradually changed from relief to population assimilation. After a period of integration into society and receiving French education, mixed-race children gradually lost their ties to their birthplace as well as to their Vietnamese mothers. Some became the subject of racial discrimination against mixed-race people.

Over time, the Amerasians still tried to find ways to reconnect with their relatives in Vietnam. They also began to question the meaning of emigrating to France, about the advantages and disadvantages of being a Vietnamese living in a foreign land. After 1975, many Amerasians gathered together in a common house, the Association of Vietnamese in France. This was a place to help them share their common fate, and at the same time mobilize Vietnamese people in France to contribute to their homeland.

According to Professor Yves Dénéchère, the phenomenon of Vietnamese-French mixed-race children in the 20th century should be viewed not only as a purely migration phenomenon. Behind it are profound implications about politics, society, culture, race, and international relations between Vietnam and France. Therefore, to thoroughly study such phenomena, researchers need to have an interdisciplinary perspective. Accordingly, as mentioned, children are considered a part of human growth and maturity, an agent of social development.

After the presentation, Professor Yves Dénéchère received questions from the audience on a number of issues such as the funding sources and support of the French government for the Children's Charity Association in Indochina; discrimination against mixed-race children compared to native children; background of mixed-race children; criteria for accepting mixed-race children of the Children's Charity Association in Indochina; the level of connection between mixed-race Vietnamese-French children and their parents in Vietnam.