Migrants from Java to work for French rubber plantation in Cochinchina in the early 20th century

Abstract

After conquering and settling a colony in Cochin-china, French colonial government and bourgeoisie increasingly took control of land, invested money to develop different plantations, especially rubber ones in the southeast area. The fact is that there was a lack of labor to work for French rubber plantations because of little people living in those areas. In order to deal with this problem, French colonial government tried to import migrants from Java to Cochin-china in the early 20th century. This policy, however, faced many difficulties and was little successful, partly because of the Dutch colonial government’s policy to prevent exporting labor, partly due to the high cost of recruitment, transformation during this migratory process.