Vietnamese indentured labourers: The intervention of the French colonial government in regulating the flow of Vietnamese labourers to the Pacific Islands in the early twentieth century

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the penetration of sovereign power in regulating Vietnamese labour migration to the French colonies and Establishments in the Pacific Islands in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. It argues that the French colonial authorities in Vietnam played an overt and directly intervening role in the labour migration system in their colonies, in contrast to the British approach, which was much more hands-off. First, this paper shows the interaction between the French colonial states to solve the labour shortage problem in the Pacific Islands under Metropolitan France’s regulations. Then, it provides a detailed account of how the French colonial government exercised its power over the inhabitants by organising, monitoring, and transforming Vietnamese migrants into docile subjects even when they were in other French colonies. Finally, this study points to some legacies of the colonial government’s migration policy for Vietnamese migrants in decolonisation. From there, it provides new insights into studying the relationship of the colonial state with migrant workers and adds more knowledge about Vietnamese indentured labourers under the domination of French colonialism.