The British Shipping (Assistance) Act of 1935 aimed to subsidize the British shipping industry in the context of the economic depression of the 1930s. While one of its purposes was to safeguard seamen’s jobs, it did so only for white British seamen, thus discriminating on the grounds of race. One of the requirements for payment of the subsidy was that the ship employed only ‘British seamen’. Thus, in the wake of the Act, many ship-owners sacked all but their white employees, and numerous Indian lascars found themselves suddenly without employment.

This discriminatory Act was met with considerable resistance. The Colonial Seamen’s Association, which brought South Asian seamen together with their black, Arab and Chinese counterparts, was formed in reaction to the Act, in order to better mobilize against it. They held numerous meetings in which the Act was denounced. In May 1935, Shapurji Saklatvala gave a speech decrying the Act at the Coloured National Mutual Social Club in South Shields. Opposition to the Act was also voiced in India where there were even threats of retaliation against white workers there. With protest against the Act coming from the India Office and Colonial Office as well as the CSA and other organizations, the discrimination was removed in March 1936.

The Aliens Order 1920 was an amendment to the Aliens Restriction Act of the previous year. Brought out in the context of widespread unemployment after the First World War, it required all aliens seeking employment or residence to register with the police. Failure to do so would result in deportation. Further, under the Order, the Home Secretary retained the power to deport any alien whose presence was considered detrimental to the public good. Constitutionally, South Asians were not ‘aliens’ but rather citizens of the British empire. In spite of this, however, many lascars were caught up in this legislation. They were not generally issued with passports so could not prove their status as British citizens and their exemption from the Order. Hence, many were subject to harassment and denied employment.

The 1919 Aliens Restriction Act extended the powers of the wartime Act of 1914 which obliged foreign nationals to register with the police, enabled their deportation, and restricted where they could live. The primary aim of the 1914 Act was to target ‘enemy aliens’ resident in Britain during the First World War. The 1919 Act continued these restrictions into peace-time and extended them. It restricted the employment rights of aliens resident in Britain, barring them from certain jobs (in the civil service, for example), and had a particular impact on foreign seamen working on British ships. It also targeted criminals, paupers and ‘undesirables’, and made it illegal for aliens to promote industrial action. A motivation for the extension of the restrictions was the end to the wartime labour shortages and consequent desire to safeguard jobs for indigenous white Britons.

South Asians were not formally classified as ‘aliens’ as they were citizens of empire. However, many were harassed because of the legislation. The 1919 Act was renewed annually until 1971 when it was replaced by the Immigration Act.