Hmong Americans are Americans of  Hmong descent from Southeast Asia, most notably from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Hmong Americans are one group of Asian Americans. Many Lao Hmong war refugees resettled in the US following the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and Laotian Civil War during the Vietnam War. Following the Vietnam People's Army invasion and take over of the Royal Kingdom of Laos, beginning in December 1975, the first Lao Hmong refugees arrived in the US, mainly from refugee camps along the Mekong river in Thailand. Thousands of Lao Hmong fled persecution, human rights violations, military attacks, ethnic cleansing, and religious freedom violations, at the hands of Marxist and communist forces, including those of the Lao People's Army. However, despite the tens of thousands of Hmong people persecuted and killed, only approximately 3,466 were reportedly granted asylum as official refugees at this time under the Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.