Federal Statistical Office figures show , Vietnamese nationals residing in Germany at the end of , which is the fourth largest community from Asia excluding transcontinental, Caucusus and Middle Eastern states. Other data from shows , people of Vietnamese descent, of which , have a migration background. Between and , 41, people renounced Vietnamese citizenship to take up German nationality.
The first of the boat people who fled the country after the liberation of Saigon via the South China Sea to Malaysia , where they were denied entry, consisting of families totalling individuals who had fled on board the Hai Hong , arrived in Hanover on 3 December by plane, after Lower Saxony became the first state to accept Vietnamese refugees. Many of them fled Vietnam on small fishing boats with the hope of getting rescued by foreign ships. The Cap Anamur was the most notable rescue ship from West Germany during the Crisis, funded mainly by donations, the ship saved over 10, people by the end of the 13th rescue mission which is also the last one in People without family members overseas or were fully unified families rescued by West German ships were forced to seek refuge in West Germany.
Many refused and wanted to go to the US instead, but were denied. None spoke German at the time of their arrival. The first refugees were accepted into Lower Saxony.
Most were first held at the Friedland refugee facility near to the East Germany border before their relocation in their new homes. Most stayed there for a few weeks before being relocated elsewhere. Several factors aided their social and economic integration into German society. They received official aid in the form of social benefits and job placement assistance, as well as broader societal support for their successful adaptation to German life.
A lot of donations went on to help them establish themselves. Further, unlike other migrant groups, they knew that they had no option to return to their country of origin if they failed in their adopted land. They spread out through a variety of economic sectors, but were somewhat concentrated in the metal industry.
