Rōmusha

The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between 4 and 10 million rōmushas were forced to work (often at low pay) by the Japanese military during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II,[1] many of whom experienced harsh conditions and either died or were stranded far from home.

With the term imprecisely defined by both the Japanese and the Allies, estimates of the total number of rōmushas may include the kinrōhōshi (English: unpaid forced laborers), native auxiliary forces (such as troops of the Japanese-allied Indonesian volunteer army Pembela Tanah Air (PETA)), and voluntary transmigrants to other islands in Indonesia.

Although exact figures are unknown, M. C. Ricklefs estimates that between 200,000 and 500,000 Javanese laborers were sent away from Java to the outer islands, and as far as Burma and Thailand.

Any wages paid to the rōmusha failed to keep pace with inflation, and they were often forced to work while exposed to hazardous conditions with inadequate food, shelter or medical care.

[2] The brutality of the rōmusha and other forced labor systems was a major reason for the great death rate among Indonesians during the Japanese occupation.

[6] From 1944, the PETA also utilized thousands of rōmusha for the construction of military facilities, and for economic projects to help make Java more self-sufficient due to Allied blockades.