Part 7/15:
The complexity grew when discussing the migration and marriage patterns. European women in the Dutch East Indies, especially in occupied territories like Sumatra, were rare and usually accompanied by their European husbands. Interracial marriages were heavily restricted and often clandestine due to social stigma. As such, a European woman marrying into a Chinese family in a remote area like Banka Island was highly improbable, leading historians to suggest that branching from European soldiers and local Eurasian women was more plausible.