A Girmitiya's Story

I have taken screenshots from the BBC Documentary, Coolies:  How Britain Reinvented Slavery.  The full documentary is available under the History tab on this website.  The screenshots are part of the interview undertaken by Dr Brij V Lal who visited Late Mr Deo who was an indentured labourer who arrived in Fiji under the Indian system of indenture.  Late Mr Deo recounts the conditions that he and his fellow Girmitiyas were subjected to.  I was fortunate enough to meet Late Mr Deo in 1997 in Sigatoka Fiji.   The slave trade was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1807, but contrary to this, Britain continued such practice under the system of Indenture – a proper name for slavery and continued sending shiploads of Indians to, South America, Mauritius, Malaya, South Africa and Fiji.