April 28, 2023

The Exiles is a two-part documentary by CNA Insider released in March 2023 which covers the deportations of Asian seamen from the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia following World War II, which resulted in the fragmentation of numerous families in the two countries. Part 1, ‘My Stolen Chinese Father: Victims of UK’s Racist Past’, focuses on the deportations of Chinese seamen from the UK. Part 2, ‘The Untold Generational Trauma From The “White Australia Policy”’, follows the deportation of Asian men and their families from Australia.

Although focused on the stories of people whose fathers were subject to these forced deportations, the documentary also features expert interviewees. Expert interviewees from NUS FASS include Dr Donna Brunero (NUS History), Professor Tim Bunnell (NUS Geography and Asia Research Institute), and Dr Suriani Suratman (NUS Malay Studies).

Dr Brunero notes that Chinese seamen had supported British sea trade by serving as much-needed manpower on cross-Atlantic sea lines. Some settled in Liverpool, a major UK port city, forming relationships and raising families there. She also notes that wives of the Chinese seamen who had been forcefully deported had written to British newspapers to try finding their missing husbands. However, their middle-class status meant that their concerns were not heard by those in power. The elites had preferred the matter be kept out of public discourse.

Professor Tim Bunnell asserts that the UK had done great injustice to those who were British subjects; some victims of the forced deportations had been recruited from the British colonies of Singapore and Hong Kong to work on sea lines that were known to hire Chinese crew.

In Australia, forced deportations were carried out under the White Australia Policy, which encouraged immigration and settlement of those of white European descent but discouraged that of Asians and other non-White people. Dr Brunero states that support for this policy was bolstered with media rhetoric of yellow peril: that Chinese migrants would steal the jobs and women of white Australians, and that these migrants’ presence undermined Australian morals. This coincided with the movement of Chinese migrants into Australian urban centres in the 1900s.

To remove persons the Australian government deemed undesirable, immigration officers gave selected persons a dictation test. Persons were required to pass this test to remain in Australia. However, Dr Brunero argues that this was quite arbitrary because officers had the liberty to choose any language—out of 50 European languages—with which to administer the test, essentially ensuring that the candidates had no chance of passing. This worked to legitimise forced deportations from Australia.

One figure of resistance against the White Australian Policy was Phyllis Osman. Dr Suratman notes that it must have been a difficult transition when Osman moved from the major city of New South Wales to Singapore, where living conditions were more akin to a village. According to Dr Brunero, Osman’s story received press coverage in Australia, Malaya, and Singapore. She subsequently became a vocal critic of the White Australia Policy.

Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/32UMEb8yCWY

Watch Part 2 here: https://youtu.be/wG9iMbadH7M