An infamous period of South Pacific history surrounds the interaction between Europeans and Melanesians in the “recruiting” of about 100,000 Melanesians to work primarily on copra, cotton, and sugar plantations in Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, and Queensland, Australia. In many instances the human rights of Melanesians were severely violated. They experienced physical abuse, violence, and even kidnapping in the recruiters' efforts to take them from their island villages to work on plantations. This article documents the important role missionaries played in discovering the violations of Melanesians' human rights, in speaking out against these abuses, and ultimately in bringing an end to this horrible practice.
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