Contractarbeid in Suriname (1853–1939)

Contract Labour (1853–1939)

• In 1834, slavery was abolished in the English colonies, and in 1848 in the French colonies.
• This created a threatening situation for Suriname's planters and government, foreseeing the eventual abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies as well.
• This prospect raised concerns about a significant labour shortage on plantations.
• Surinamese planters sought government support to recruit workers from abroad.
• Planters aimed to maintain low wages by creating a surplus of labourers.

Arrival of Chinese Contract Labourers (1853–1865)

• In 1853, the government of Java recruited a group of 18 Chinese workers for contract labour on the government plantation Catharina Sophia in Saramacca.
• Due to high recruitment costs, it was decided to recruit the second group from China itself instead of from Java.
• In 1858, five hundred Chinese labourers were recruited through the Dutch consul in Macao, but no one in Suriname wanted to hire them as long as slaves could be used for free.
• Ultimately, approximately 2500 Chinese labourers came to Suriname in the 1850s and 1860s.
• Most were employed as contract labourers on plantations, mainly from Hong Kong and Macao, signing 5-year contracts.
• After their contracts ended, many went into trade, mostly retail in food, while others became goldsmiths or merchants.

The Failure of Chinese Immigration

• The Chinese were treated as slaves and punished with beatings by the police for resisting, without due process.
• Slavery was still ongoing, and planters were unwilling to pay for Chinese labourers when they had free slave labour.
• The contracts made with the Chinese were often not honoured or were altered without consideration.

Dutch Government's Search for Cheap Labour

• The Dutch government was constantly looking for cheap labour for plantations, demonstrated by the recruitment of 500 contract workers from Madeira.
• Recruitment efforts in the West Indies, particularly Barbados, resulted in a small number of contract workers, most of whom returned after their contracts.
• A small number of contract workers were brought from the Netherlands in 1872, but this also failed.

Arrival of Hindustani Contract Labourers (1873–1916)

• Slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1863.
• The Dutch government had not yet succeeded in recruiting cheap labour for plantations.
• As a solution, the "Staatstoezicht" (State Supervision) was introduced in 1863 for 10 years, ending on July 1, 1873, requiring ex-slaves to continue working on plantations for a small fee.
• During the Staatstoezicht period, the Dutch government focused on recruiting British-Indians as cheap labour.

Reasons for Recruiting British-Indians

• Neighbouring British Guiana had already seen 79,000 British-Indian contract labourers, revitalizing its plantations.
• Thousands of British-Indian contract labourers were also working in French Guiana and other locations within the region (Trinidad, Barbados).
• The English had a well-established transport and recruitment system in British-India, making it easier for the Dutch government to recruit labourers.

Treaty with England

• The Dutch government signed a treaty with England in 1870, obtaining permission to bring British-Indian labourers to Suriname.
• In exchange, the Netherlands had to sell the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) to England.

Financing Immigration

• Financing the immigration caused disagreement between the Dutch government and Surinamese planters.
• The Dutch government wanted the planters to pay for the immigration because it was a private matter.
• In 1880 the "Immigratiefonds" was founded, in which the Dutch government provided loans to support the planters.
• It was decided to impose taxes on products to pay for the immigration.
• Immigrants would contribute by taxing their wages.
• The immigration was coordinated by the Dutch government and particulars had no input.
• Ultimately, the planters had to pay 60 percent of the supply costs and around 200 guilders per immigrant.

Arrival of the First Contingent

• On June 4, 1873, the first contingent of 410 immigrants arrived by ship called the Lalla Rookh.
• During the period of British-Indian immigration, 64 ships brought a total of 34,304 immigrants to Suriname.
• In May 1916, the last immigrant ship from British-India, the steamship Dewa, arrived in Paramaribo.
• The British-Indian government imposed a general ban on the recruitment of contract labourers for any country, complying with protests from British-Indian nationalists, including Mahatma Gandhi, in 1916.

Origin of the Immigrants

• Most immigrants came from provinces in North India, mostly Bihar, Calcutta, and Uttar Pradesh.
• They came from both higher and lower castes.
• The highest caste, the Brahmans, did not emigrate, as their economic position meant they didn't need to emigrate.
• The colonies avoided them as much as possible, as they could cause discontent among the contract workers.
• Male immigrants were mostly farmers and field workers, while women often worked as domestic servants.

Motives for Emigration

• The main reason to emigrate was poverty.
• Other circumstances also played a role, such as family conflict, ban from marrying outside their own caste, shame for unmarried pregnancies, the submissive position of unmarried women, the family's fear opposing a love relationship for reasons of caste or religion, the discriminating caste system, burning widows after the death of their spouse, love of adventure, criminals who had served their sentence, and fleeing justice for committing a crime.
• These factors were the push factors that made the workers leave their land.

Organisation of Immigration

• The immigration was carefully regulated in the treaty.
• Dutch civil servant was responsible for recruitment, the storage, and transport of the contract labourers.
• He also monitored the main depot in Calcutta, where the immigrants boarded the ships.
• The emigration agent appointed sub-agents, doctors, translators, and other personnel.
• Local recruiters were employed, who were paid a bonus per immigrant.
• The bonus for women was the highest because it proved more difficult to recruit them.
• The English government had a Protector of Immigrants, an English colonial official in Calcutta, who was responsible for overall supervision.
• In Suriname, the British consul was responsible for monitoring and was also named Protector of Immigrants.
• The recruiters usually provided an overly positive of the situation and gave various empty promises to make as much premium money as possible.
• According to the recruiters, the land had no poverty and fertile soil and the immigrants would go to the land of the Hindu god Rama, a land of milk and honey.

The Contract

• The British-Indian contract labourers did not sign a contract with a specific plantation but with the Surinamese government.
• The contract lasted for five years.
• Neither party (the colonial government and the contract labourer) could terminate the contract.
• The number of working days was set at 313 days per year, a maximum of six days per week with seven hours a day in the field or ten hours a day in the factory.
• The minimum wage was 60 cents per day for adult men and 40 cents for unfit men, women, and boys (boys could work on the plantations from the age of 16).
• "Task work" assigned required completion of a specific task each day, or would entail severe punishment or wage reduction.
• The contract labourers had the right to free medical treatment and a free home.
• Penal sanction: the planter could act as a judge and administer lashes for loafing/negligence.
• The workers could be punished by the Canton judge, with sentences or fines, related to the penal sanction.
• The penal sanction for refusing to work was a maximum of 6 weeks imprisonment with a 25 guilder fine, two months imprisonment and 50 guilder fine for walking away.
• After 5 years, they had the right to return to British-India by the Dutch government.
• They were also free to extend the contract for another 5 years or settle here and receive a piece of government land to farm and receive a premium of 100 guilders to build a life.

Treatment

• The working conditions, such as housing and medical facilities, were poor.
• Housing consisted of the former slave dwellings, which were barely resistant to tropical rain, easily accessible to insects and other vermin, and virtually devoid of furniture and bedding.
• Medical care was only free if the disease or accident was not due to their own misconduct.
• Foremen would determine whether or not someone was sick.
• Wages were too low.
• The work was too hard, especially the work which was always imposed.
• The penal sanction was always applied to the immigrants.
• The planters often tried to indulge their needs through the female contract workers, causing unrest on the plantations.
• The planters were not always willing to listen to the workers’ complaints and the workers were not allowed to leave the plantations without permission from the planters, for example to complain to the government or the Protector of Immigrants.

Arrival of Javanese Contract Labourers (1890-1930)

• From 1873, people began immigrating British-Indian contract labourers.
• The British subjects and England exerted influence on immigration, reserving the right to stop the immigration at all times.
• Many British-Indian contract labourers were reluctant to settle after their contract period, forcing the colonial government to continuously employ new immigrants, which entails a financial burden.
• The conditions set by the British government were financially burdensome for the planters and the colonial government, raising high costs for immigration.
• The British consultant was in Paramaribo, who also acted as a Protector of Immigrants, who had power within the immigration event.

Reasons for Javanese Contract Labour

• The Colonial government saw it as an opposition and resistance through the British-Indian contract labourers.
• Work often was refused and fire was set by contract labourers, who would often complain of the low wages and heavy work.

Why Workers from Dutch-Indië

• Indië was a Dutch colony, the Dutch government did not need to ask permission for it and the Dutch-Indiërs were Dutch subjects.
• There was no talk of a Protector of Immigrants, as the workers were Dutch subjects.

Motives and Contract

• Most Javanese immigrants had the same reasons as the British-Indian contract labourers.
• Their work agreements were all the same.
• In August 9th, 1890, the first group of Javans arrived in town, consisting of 61 men, 31 females and 2 children and were assigned to the Mariënburg plantation, which was owned by the NHM.
• Between 1890 and 1939, 32.956 Javanese were brought to Surinam.
• Almost one quarter made use of their right to move to Java.

Resistance among the Immigrants

• It is clear that all British-Indiërs and Dutch-Indiërs came because of the contract labour.
• In 1884, British contract labourers came because of the Zoelen plantation and Zorg en Hoop, caused by the low wages by work foremen.
• The work’s tempo was increasing.

Incidents and their Aftermath

• The most serious factor on the Zoelen plantation included the district’s commissioner hitting them with stokken to mediate.
• On the Zorg en Hoop plantation, authorities were trying to organize the work force and the military was employed, 7 deaths and a count of injured.
• In 1902, the worst and most serious incidents took place on the Mariënburg sugar plantation.
• 1. The wages were too low.
• 2. The work was too heavy,
• 3. The females on the plantation were mistreated.
• The work force under direction of Roygaroo acted after being mistreated by James Mavor.
• By entering the military, 17 British-India’s were put to death and 39 injured, 7 who were later put to death due to being treated in masses.
• The graves had burned lime spread over them and have never been found since.

The position of Immigrants

• Through contract labourers, the plantations were saved from an all-out closure.
• The immigrants started up a small scale for the agricultural business.
• After 1873, the number of community members began to increase and had a new composition from the communities.
• Before Surinam had only indigenous and the Dutch. and the communities now had Chinese, Hindustanans and Javanese people who were adding their culture and values to make it a Suriname society now.

Free Immigration

• 1890-1930 was a part of the contract period, so the workers are relocated from the Dutch-Indies to there.
• Workers were required to sign a 5-year long contract, but the migration stopped in 1930.
• Free immigration was a moment to be there, a work can be found without signing legal documents.
• In this period, families came to Surinam.
• The 2nd world war ended the period of migration (1939-1945).