Why are there Indonesians in Suriname?

Large numbers of Javanese migrated to Suriname to work on plantations during the late 19th and early 20th-centuries. Indonesia has an embassy in Paramaribo also accredited to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, while Suriname has an embassy in Jakarta.

Why are there so many Javanese in Suriname?

Why are tens of thousands of people of Javanese descent living in Suriname? It all has to do with the abolition of slavery and the importance of the plantation system in this colony. In 1863, the Dutch government freed more than 33,000 slaves in Suriname.

Why there are Javanese in Suriname?

Javanese Surinamese people are an ethnic group of Javanese descent in Suriname. They have been present since the late 19th century, when their first members were selected as indentured laborers by the Dutch colonizers from the former Dutch East Indies.

What country is Javanese spoken in?

Indonesian
Javanese language, member of the Western, or Indonesian, branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family, spoken as a native language by more than 68 million persons living primarily on the island of Java.

How many Javanese are there in Suriname?

In 1954, 8,684 Javanese returned to Indonesia, with the rest remaining in Suriname. The census of 1972 counted 57,688 Javanese in Suriname, and in 2004 there were 71,879. In addition, in 2004 more than 60,000 people of mixed descent were recorded, with an unknown number of part Javanese descent.

Where do Javanese people live in Indonesia?

They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. There are also significant numbers of people of Javanese descent in most provinces of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands .

Why don’t people from Suriname return to Indonesia?

Those who stayed in Suriname also struggled with identity issues and self-esteem. Rita Tjien Fooh-Hardjomohamad, who was born in Suriname’s capital Paramaribo, said no one in her family ever attempted to return to Indonesia.

Where did the Javanese immigrants come from?

Javanese immigrants from the Dutch East Indies, picture taken between 1880-1900. After the abolition of slavery, the plantations in Suriname needed a new source of labor.