The Indochina refugee crisis was the large outflow of people from the former French colonies of Indochina, comprising the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, after communist governments were established in 1975. Over the next 25 years and out of a total Indochinese population in 1975 of 56 million, more than 3 million people would undertake the dangerous journey to become refugees in other countries of Southeast Asia or China. Hundreds of thousands may have died in their attempt to flee. More than 2.5 million Indochinese were resettled, mostly in North America and Europe. Five hundred thousand were repatriated, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The Indochinese refugees consisted of a number of different peoples, including the Vietnamese boat people, the Sino-Vietnamese Hoa, Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge and hunger, ethnic Laotians, Hmong and other highland peoples of Laos, and Montagnard, the highland peoples of Vietnam. They fled to nearby countries to seek temporary asylum and most requested permanent resettlement in third countries. The refugee outflow and humanitarian crisis was especially acute in 1979 and 1980.