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Culture without borders. / La culture sans frontières.

200,000 Mixed-Race Children Born Under Colonial Rule in Indochina

Between 1858 and 1954, around 200,000 mixed-race children were born in Indochina, primarily to French fathers. This colonial-era phenomenon was experienced as a tragedy by these children and their mothers, reveals RFI.


Nadia El-Amrani
Nadia El-Amrani
October 14, 2026  ·  1 min read
B-Empire Magazine
Brief

It is estimated that 200,000 mixed-race children were born in Indochina during the colonial period, spanning from the first French military expedition in Cochinchina in 1858 to the Geneva Accords in July 1954.

In these territories, where the majority of European settlers were men, an overwhelming majority of these children were fathered by French men.

This phenomenon, regarded by colonial authorities as a mere “parenthesis” or a “theoretical experiment,” was experienced by the mixed-race children and their mothers as a true tragedy, sometimes even a calamity, highlights RFI.

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