Forced and Indentured Labour

1830 saw the introduction in Indonesia of the Cultivation System (Cultuurstelsel), through which Javanese people were forced to work and supply crops for the European market. In the run-up to the abolition of slavery, plantation and tin mine owners recruited Chinese indentured labourers on a massive scale to do the hard work. In 1853 a large number of Chinese indentured workers arrived in Suriname to work on a sugar plantation. They were followed in the last quarter of the 19th century by Javan and South Asian Hindustani indentured labourers. These newly arrived migrants on a five-year contract were hoping to liberate themselves and their families back home from famine and poverty. Instead of the promised opportunities, however, they faced similar levels of poverty, exploitation and violence on the plantations of Suriname.