Draft:Asian-Colombians

The term Asian-Colombians (spanish: colombianos asiáticos) refers to Asian immigrants in Colombia and their descendants. The majority of Asian-Colombians are of Chinese and Japanese descendent,     with a smaller portion being of Korean descendent. There are also notable South Asian, Southeast Asian, Arab, and   Asian Middle Eastern descending populations.

History
In 1854, many Chinese migrants arrived in Colombian territory for the construction of the Panama Canal Railway across the Isthmus of Panama, as the domestic labor force was not sufficient enough. Around 705 Chinese immigrants came from the Guandong province, demonstrating their skills working on the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad on the west coast of theUnited States. The Chinese migrants being brought into the projects was a desperate measure by the managers of the railway companies, who did not have enough workers among the native population for the construction and failed to import enough Irish, German, and other European migrants to make up for the deficit.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Indian Muslim migrants settled in the towns of the Cauca River valley, some just temporarily and others permanently, to engage in the commercial activity demanded by the new working  population of the nascent sugar industry. These immigrants brought a variety of products to rural areas, both granting credit and accepting barter.

Toraji Irie, a renowned Japanese writer, states in his work on Japanese migration to other regions of the World that the first Japanese migrants who arrived in Colombia in 1903, the year Panama gained independence and Colombia lost control of the Isthmus of Panama, came as a result of the Colombian Government seeking help from Japan in hiring workers to guard land bordering Panama against U.S. incursions.

In 1928, this was the smallest migratory group, being somewhat small compared to other South American countries like Brazil, Peru or Venezuela. Despite this, some Japanese families began settling in Valle del Cauca, where many became farmers. Between 1970 and 1980, there was a small yet constant flow of Asian migration (mainly from China) into Colombian cities- primarily Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín, Santa Marta, Neiva, Manizales, Cúcuta and Pereira- which continues to this day. Other very small groups of Asian migrants came from India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Between 1970 and 1980 there were more than 6,000 Chinese Immigrants in Colombia, meaning that they continued to arrive and grow in population. Anti-Immigration policies in many other countries is a possible primary cause of continued Chinese immigration into Colombia. Emigration out of China into Colombia generally did not occur the first three decades following the establishment of the People's Republic of China, as emigration was restricted. Due to Xenophobia and Sinophobia within the United States, a significant amount of Chinese people chose to immigrate into other countries, including Colombia.