The following are notes from 3 journal articles which outline the history of the new villages scheme, devised and implemented by the British, with assistance from the Australians and Americans, which led to the relatively speedy end of the guerrilla war waged by the Malayan Communist Party in Malaysia (then Malaya) between 1948 and 1960:
On its origins
Britain’s inability to crush the guerrillas caused great frustration in London. In March 1950, Defence Minister Emanuel Shinwell informed the prime minister that he was “very disturbed” by the “grave” situation in Malaya….Anxiety became intense after the insurgents ambushed and assassinated the British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Gurney, in October 1951. That same month saw the highest number of casualties among the security forces since 1949. An internal report prepared in 1957 acknowledged,“There is no doubt that in the first two years of its activities the CTO [Communist Terrorist Organization] was a very real threat to the security and economic recovery of Malaya after the war…..In 1950 the British secretary of state for war, John Strachey, declared: “I do not believe that the Army alone, as such, can finish them off. In order to finish…them off we have got to have a large military effort . . . and an equally large police and administrative and political effort…..The counterinsurgency employed a range of strategies and fought on a number of fronts…..Britain launched a major “population control” effort involving the relocation of more than 50,000 Chinese “squatters,” the creation of nearly 450 “New Villages,” and the mass deportations of detainees.
(http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/icas/PhillipDeery.pdf)
On its impact
Today the initial phase of this resettlement program is an accomplished fact. Squatters have been relocated in protected areas bounded by authority and order. Resettlement is the primary reason why Malaya today can carry the battle to the Communists. Though it does not mean the end of Malaya's drive against Communism, it has proved to be an effective weapon against the terrorist attacks by the guerrillas. After the completion of the resettlement program, terrorist attacks fell off almost 75 percent, Communist guerrillas surrendered and deserted in increasing numbers, and security force and civilian casualties dropped appreciably. Resettlement of the Chinese squatters has helped to disrupt the Communist organization in Malaya and has severed important underground links and disorganized Communist cells.
(http://www.jstor.org/view/03628949/di014049/01p0879u/0)
On its role in nation building
Begun in June 1948, the scheme was completed in 1954 without causing widespread unemployment--an achievement unparalleled in all of Southeast Asia--and was especially noteworthy because it coincided with a period when the Federation of Malaya was preparing itself for self-government and eventual independence….although it was conceived as a military necessity, the establishment of Rasah New Village improved the living conditions of some 2,000 peasants.
(http://www.jstor.org/view/00044687/di014141/01p1502u/0)
Naturally, if such a scheme is to be implemented in Iraq, it would need to be modified to suit local conditions.
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