Country: Belize

Group: East Indian

Date Finalized: 11/1/2020

Team: Michael Demangone (lead), Vianney Mancilla, Johanna McCombs, Nusrat Nijum

Ample evidence shows that the East Indian ethnic group experienced forced labor in Belize. Multiple articles from independent sources support this, but there are few peer-reviewed articles. For this reason, the data quality for this article is given a 2. Currently, the East Indian ethnic group comprises 3.9 % of the total population in Belize (The World Factbook, n.d.). The East Indian ethnic group consists of people with roots in southern Asia, specifically the country India. In 1838, the British began transporting East Indians to Belize as a result of the abolishment of slavery and the creation of the Indian indentured system (Anitha & Pearson, 2013.). While technically no longer slaves, the Indians had limited options and were recruited for work by the British with little compensation. Confederates from the United States began colonizing areas in Latin America (in this case, Belize) and experienced difficulties with laborers (Wainwright, 2015). The Confederates made appeals to the colonial state and the British catered to their needs. In Belize’s Toledo District, the East Indians worked on the Confederates’ sugar plantations alongside other Indian immigrants (Wainwright, 2015).  In 1870, these settlements among other Confederate estates were still inhabited and cared for by East Indians (Wainwright, 2015). By 1917, over 41,000 East Indians were still working for the British in Belize (Waight, 2019). In the 1920’s, the Confederate families that remained in Belize decreased to a total of twelve estates. On these estates, the East Indians could not afford to purchase the land and were “locked” into leasing agreements. Today, many descendants of these East Indians reside in this area called “Rancho”, which remains one of the poorest areas in Belize (Wainwright, 2015).

Sources

  1. Anitha, S. and Pearson, R. (2013) Indentured labour from South Asia (1834-1917). Striking Women. Lincoln: University of Lincoln. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from www.striking-women.org
  2. The World Factbook (n.d.). Central America :: Belize. Central Intelligence Agency. etrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bh.htm,
  3. Waight, Larry. (2019). The East Indians of Belize . Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://caribbeanlifestyle.com/east-indians-in-belize/
  4. Wainwright, J. D. (2015). The Colonial Origins of the State in Southern Belize. Historical Geography, 43(0), 122–138. Retrieved from https://ejournals.unm.edu/index.php/historicalgeography/article/view/3300/html-wainright3