§ 37. Squadron Leader Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement regarding the progress of the anti-bandit campaign in Malaya.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsSince I made my last statement on the situation in Malaya, on 27th February, the improvement both in civilian morale and in the amount and quality of information reaching the Security Forces has continued steadily. I regard these two factors in particular as significant. While the number of major incidents remains serious, and the casualties inflicted by the bandits on the Security Forces and the civilian population have been high, bandit casualties—killed, captured and surrendered—have shown a marked increase during the period since November, 1950, compared with the five previous months.
Notable progress has been made with the programme of resettlement, which is now almost finished in the priority areas in the south and about half complete in the Federation as a whole. The purpose of this programme is to deny the terrorists support of all kinds, and it is to be hoped that a greater measure of success will attend the operations of the Security Forces as its effects, and those of the complementary programme of labour regrouping on estates, become increasingly felt.
143WBandit activity remains high and the situation must therefore still be considered serious. While in some respects a slight improvement is noticeable, we have still a long way to go.