After China was taken over by the communist in 1949, thousands of Chinese resettled in the
near by countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and others. These Chinese people who resettled
identified themselves as ethnic Chinese instead of Vietnamese, Khmer, or Lao. Within these
countries, they still maintain their own culture, family traditions, and ethnic identity. Unfortunately,
this is seldom understood in the United States, where law enforcement, social services
agencies, and school counselors classify them based on their birth country instead of their
ethnic group. This misidentification further erodes the ethnic Chinese cultural identity, and the
opportunity to employ this common cultural ground as a tool to work with other Chinese is lost.
In 1979, a proactive group of ethnic Chinese refugees living in Washington State joined together
to seek a solution to the lack of bilingual and bicultural services for the Indochinese refugees.
The result was the foundation of the Indochina Chinese Refugee Association (ICRA) of
Washington State. ICRA is a community based, grassroots organization staffed and managed by
Indochinese refugees. It is the first local effort by ethnic Chinese to serve their own community.
ICRA's mission is to provide assistance in resettlement activities, support ethnic Chinese efforts
to maintain their own culture, language, and values, and promotes the common interest of all
refugees in Washington.
