Caste criminalisation in South India and permanent migration to Fiji, 1903–1927

2025/01/14 by Alexander Persaud · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Island Studies and Pacific Affairs #Migration and Labor Dynamics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/aehr.12306

openalex publication_date 2025/01/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Abstract Does the official criminalisation of a group lead to permanent out‐migration? In the early 20th century, British officials in south India designated multiple castes as inherently criminal under the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA). The CTA required police registration and could force entire groups into special settlements. Utilising unique, individual‐level administrative data on all south Indian indentured labourers in Fiji, I analyse criminalisation's effects on return migration. Members of criminalised castes returned to India less even when offered free repatriation, with a statistically and economically significant fall of 18%. My results show the impact of policies of criminalisation on migration.

Citations

• Labour Mobility With Vocational Skill: Australian Demand and Pacific Supply
• Persecution, pogroms and genocide: A conceptual framework and new evidence

Discussions

• Alex Persaud shows that a 1911 criminalization of select castes in Madras imposed new restrictions and reduced the share of indentured labourers returning home from Fiji at the end of their contracts. [bsky, 10 points, 0 comments]

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