Curacao was a colony of the Netherlands from 1791 to 1954. In 1919 Curacao owned the largest oil refinery in the world. The oil was extracted in Maracaibo (Venezuela) and transported to strategical located Curacao by the Curaçaosche Scheepvaart Maatschappij, subsidiary of the Curaçoasche Petroleum Industrie Maatschappij (Shell). There were about 400 Chinese stokers and other enginering personnel. The Chinese could do this work because they smoked opium and were addicted to opium, otherwise this work could not  be done for long. The engine rooms could become 55 degrees Celsius, anyone not smoking opium would physically be written off at the a of 35. Despite their life-threatening work, they were treated worse than the other employees: they were paid less, their safety was less taken care of and they were forbidden to enter Willemstad, to get off the ship. In February 1942, the number of sea incidents on the CSM shipping route increased and Chinese people died. In addition, the Germans torpedoed ships with their U-boats (submarines). The fear this aroused among the Chinese, combined with their poor position within the company, led them to lay down their work en masse on February 24, 1942 in order to negotiate better working conditions. But it was war. The CSM requested the Curacao government to arrest these men on the basis of labor obligation; Strike was prohibited because of the importance of the fuel for the war.