differentially include groups—indigenous or not to peninsular Malaysia—based on whether or not they are Muslim. Another critical contextualization of pre-colonial movements is migration patterns from China. Chinese mercantile influence increased in Maritime Southeast Asia from the 15th century, and after the 1435 Ming dynasty decision to curtail overseas trade, many merchants settled in Southeast Asia (Hoerder, 2002). This led to the formation of numerous Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora communities, including in Malacca, Manila, and Batavia, which largely did not assimilate into the existing local communities (Hoerder, 2002). Chinese migrants rose into powerful roles in numerous communities, gaining political and economic prowess over local communities, creating tensions. Chinese migration has also remained prevalent throughout the later centuries, through the colonial period, and in contemporary migration patterns (Brown and Foot, 1994; Suryadinata, 1989; Intirā; 1994). In Singapore, for example, over the course of four decades leading up to 1864 (during the British colonial period), the population increased from 11,500 to 90,700, the new migrants comprised of 58,000 Chinese, 13,500 Malays, and 12,700 Indians (Hoerder, 2002). The significant population of Chinese Singaporeans would later be one of the major reasons for its separation from Malaysia. Today, there are also large Chinese minorities in many other nations, including Thailand (3.8 million), Indonesia (2.5 million), Malaysia (2.4 million), and Vietnam (1.0 million) (Hoerder, 2002). The influence of Chinese migrants and residents in economic and political spheres has led to tensions throughout history, and also played a large role in the formulation of indigeneity clauses in Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar after independence. All of those policies relegated ethnic Chinese populations into a second-class tier of citizenship, excluding them from certain rights and sometimes citizenship entirely, on the basis of their ‘non-indigeneity’, though many families have lived in the regions for generations. Though brief, this overview has highlighted the essential pre-colonial trends for understanding contemporary statelessness. The next part of the section outlines how European colonialism drastically shifted power dynamics and migration patterns—and how they shifted power dynamics through migration patterns—providing an explanation for why migrant populations became the target of exclusion clauses at independence. Colonial Rule: Migration as a Tool of Governance The arrival of French and British colonists in mainland Southeast Asia in the 19th century drastically altered the trajectory of the three major empires of the region. The Burman Empire was captured by Britain between 1824-1886 and became part of British India. The Vietnamese Empire was conquered by the French between 1862-1883 and became part of the super-state of French Indo-China (which also included the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Principalities of Laos). Siam became a beneficiary     11