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

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 19^th to mid-20^th 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.

KEYWORDS:

• Vietnamese indentured labour
• labour recruitment
• migration apparatus
• Pacific Islands
• French colonialism

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Jade Mountain Program and the Institute for Social Research and Cultural Studies, National Yang Minh Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, for supporting me in this study. Also, I would like to show my gratitude to Professor Alain Brossat, Professor Joyce C.H. Liu and Professor John Hutnyk for sharing their insight and expertise with me. I am indebted to them for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, although any errors are my own and should not tarnish the reputations of these esteemed persons. Thanks to Professor Ben Marwick for assistance with revisions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. National Archive Centre I, Vietnam (hereafter NACI), M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Feillet, Immigration Indochinoise en Nouvelle Calédonie, 5 May 1894

2. NACI, N⁰139, M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Feillet, [Recruitments sur les condamnés Tonkinois introduits en Nouvelle Caledonie en 1891], October 22, 1894

3. NACI, N⁰139, M.12, N⁰29792, Ibib

4. NACI, N⁰60, M.12, N⁰29792, Léon Chavassieux, A.S des deportér Tonkinois, July 26, 1894

5. NACI, N⁰422, M12, N⁰29792, [The letter of Defense lawyer sent to the Governor General of Indochina], 14 February 1895

6. NACI, M.12, N⁰29792, Télégramme officiel du Résident supérieur au Tonkin a Résident Maire Haiphong, February 28,1895

7. NACI, N⁰139, M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Feillet, Recruitments sur les condamnés Tonkinois introduits en Nouvelle Caledonie en 22 October 1891, 1894

8. NACI, M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Feillet, Immigration Indochinoise en Nouvelle Calédonie, May 5, 1894

9. NACI, M.12, N⁰29792, Ibid

10. NACI, N⁰195, M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Doumer, D’ indigènes à recruter pour la Réunion, March 27, 1897

11. NACI, N⁰195, M.12, N⁰29792, Ibid

12. NACI, N⁰1442 gg, F.74 M.14, N⁰75622, Albert Pierre Sarraut, A.s Création d’un courant d’émigration des travailleurs Indochinois vers la Nouvelle Calédonie et les Nouvelle Hébrides, April 27, 1919

13. NACI, N⁰673, M.11 N⁰3318-01, Contrats de travail des coolies de Nam Dinh engagés par les Etablishements Ballande et le Syndicat Aricole des Nouvelles Hébrides, 1926

14. NACI, N⁰635, M.12, N⁰29792, Paul Feillet, Avis se p’envoir d’un Tonkinois sur la Maison Ballande, December 24, 1894

15. NACI, N⁰1010 AE, M.11-M.12. N⁰3224, Recrutement de coolies destinés à la Nouvelle Calédonie, 1923–1924

16. NACI, M.11- M.12. N⁰3224, Milliard, [The letter of the Maison Ballande & Fils about sending Mr. Marsy to Tonkin to recruit labourers to New Caledonia and New Hebrides], 24 March 1924.

17. NACI, 4592/2681, M.11-M.12. N⁰3224, [Reported about recruitment labourers by Resident of French in Nam Dinh sending to Resident Superior of Tonkin], 5 June 1925.

18. NACI, N⁰2294, M11 M12. N⁰3224, [The telegramme of Namdinh’s Resident to Maire Haiphong about the number of recruited labourers], May 24, 1924

19. NACI,, M.11, N⁰3313-01, Contrat de travail des coolies de Nam Dinh engagés par le Syndicat Agricole des Nouvelles Hébrides et des Etablissements Ballande, 1926

20. NACI, M.11, N⁰3321-01, Recrutement de la main d’oeuvre indigène dans la province de Nam Dinh de Mai 1927, 1927

21. NACI, M.12.M.O, N⁰3225, Maurice A.F. Montguillot, Conditions de travail des jeunes gens, November 25, 1923

22. NACI, M.11. N⁰3315, Contrats de travail des coolies de Nam Dinh engagés par le Syndicat des Nouvelles Hébrides at la Société des Établissements Ballande de Sepembre 1924, 1924

23. NACI, M.12.M.O, N⁰3225, É. Daladier, Circulairs:Mesures de protection sanitaire à appliquer aux travailleurs indigenes distancés à l’extérieur, October 4, 1924

24. NACI, F.7. M.11, N⁰3236, Demande d’intervention de l’Inpecteur général du travail en faveur des coolies rapatriés des Nouvelles Hébrides pour le règlement des salaires restant dus par leurs anciens employeurs, 1930

25. NACI, C.01, N⁰17326, Engagement de Nguyen Thai An en qualité d’interprète au Nouvelles Hébrides au Gouvernement de la Nouvelle Calédonie, 1933–1934

26. NACI, C.09, N⁰36, Affectation de Nguyen Duc Than et Dong Si Hua, secrétaires des Résidences de l’Annam pour servir aux Nouvelles Hébrides, 1937–1939

27. NACI, T.53. C.09, N⁰10951, Indemnités accordées à Dao Van Khai et Nguyen Van Khoe, Médecins indochinois détachés qux Nouvelles Hébirdes et en Nouvelle Calédonie, 1927–1939

28. National Archive centre III, Vietnam (hereafter NACIII), 604, N⁰ 89, Nguyen Duy Phong, Công điên vê kiêu bào ở Tân Thê giới và Tân Đao [Dispatch: Vietnamese in New Caledonia and New Hebrides], on June 6, 1949

29. NACIII, 680, N⁰ 4111, Ho Van Ninh, Nghi quyêt cua Hôi đông chính phu vê viêc đón tiêp Viêt Kiêu ơ Thái Lan, Tân Đao và Tân Thế giơi [Resolution of the Government Council on the reception of repatriating Vietnamese from Thailand, New Caledonia, and New Hebrides], October 23, 1959

30. National Archive Centre II, Vietnam (hereafter NACII), 13/AC/TBD, N⁰2106, Nguyen Tinh Tiet, Tình trạng và nguyện vọng Việt Kiều tại Nouvelle Caledonie và Nouvelle Hébrides [Situation and aspirations of Vietnamese in New Caledonia and New Hebrides], 24 February 1971.

31. NACII, 57-NV/CB, N⁰ 4135, Phan Ke Toai Thông tư:Vấn đê săp xêp công tác và sư dụng sô Việt kiều là cán bộ chính tri, là nhưng ngươi có chuyên môn kĩ thuât ơ Thái Lan, Tân Thê giơi, Tân đao và Nam My vê nươc [Circular about work arrangement and usage of repatriating Vietnamese who either are political cadres or technical experts from Thailand, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and South America], December 21, 1959

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the International Center for Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.

Notes on contributors

Nguyen Thi Trang

Nguyen Thi Trang is a Ph.D. candidate at institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. She is also a lecturer in the Faculty of History at the Thai Nguyen University of Education, Vietnam. Her research interests include colonialism, human resource management, immigration, and international relations during colonialism and decolonisation.