sea routes to form the British Empire. Capitilising on their growing naval dominance among the other European powers, the British colonised the coastal areas in the West, South, Southeast and East of the continent, creating dozens of British colonies and protectorates in Asia. The administrators of the British Empire termed Asian labourers working for them coolies, of which lascars were considered the maritime equivalent. Lascars were sailors or seamen from many different ethnic backgrounds. The term was sometimes used to specifically refer to a sailor of any Asian ancestry, however there were also African lascars recorded in Britain. Of the Asian lascars, Austronesian Malay people, from Southeast Asia, formed a significant part of the lascar population settling in, and sailing to and from Britain. From East Asia, Japanese and Chinese seamen were often operating as lascars for British ships and trading companies. From South Asia, Indians made up a huge proportion of these sea crews, particularly in the East India Company's earliest decades of operation. Parsees (who originate from Persia, West Asia) and Luso-Asians of mixed Portuguese and Indian heritage, also came from South Asia to work as lascars. From West Asia, Armenians formed part of diverse lascar crews, and Yemenis increasingly served as lascar sailors and militiamen after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, going on to open businesses, like boarding houses, in port cities such as Cardiff and South Shields. There were also the Ceylonese (Sri Lankans) and the Bengalis who also took part in sailing. Post–World War II migration Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire, South Asian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s from Pakistan (including present-day Bangladesh), India and Sri Lanka (who are all members of the Commonwealth). Additionally immigrants from former Caribbean colonies (including Indo-Caribbeans) were also moving to Britain. Although this immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified: Manual workers, mainly from Pakistan, were recruited to fulfill the labour shortage that resulted from World War II. These included Anglo-Indians who were recruited to work on the railways as they had done in India. Workers mainly from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan arrived in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many worked in the foundries of the English Midlands and a large number worked at Heathrow Airport in west London. This created an environment to where the next generation of