Briggs Plan
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Briggs' Plan was a major resettlement plan tailored by the British during the Malayan Emergency to stifle food and medical supplies to communists in Malaya during the mid-1950s. It was launched by then British High Commissioner of Malaya Sir Henry Gurney and headed by Lieutenant General Sir Harold Rowdon Briggs.
At that time, Chinese immigrants in Malaya were the main sympathizers of the Malayan Communist Party. There were Chinese who disagreed with the Communists, but they along with other Malayans were forced to cooperate with the Communists. The program involved the forced relocation of Chinese immigrants and others who were located in or near the Malayan jungle to new settlements. The new settlements were given around the clock police supervision and were partially fortified. The British also tried to win the hearts of the new settlers by providing them with education, health services and homes with water and electricity.
440 new settlements were created in this process and it is estimated that 470,509 people - 400,000 Chinese - were involved in the program. The Malaysian Chinese Association, then the Malayan Chinese Association, played a crucial role in implementing the program.
Removing a population that might be sympathetic to guerrillas was a counter insurgency technique which the British had used before, notably against the Boer Commandos in the Second Boer War (1899-1902).
Upon completion of the program, the British initiated the Hunger Drive in effort to flush out the Communists from the jungle.
[edit] See also
- New Village / Chinese New Village
