resettlement zone."
According to a UPI dispatch, the Malaysian government "began moving hundreds of Chinese residents behind barbed wire" July 6. The reason given for this not unprecedented move was "to secure a vital road leading from Kuching to the interior of Sarawak State.'
A stretch of ten miles was declared a "controlled zone" and sealed off, This move followed an attack by guerrilla fighters on a police station and "several homes along the road June 27," said upt, in which nine persons were killed.
"All Chinese living between the 15th and 25th milestones on
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the Kuching to Serian road were to be uprooted and resettled in five camps in the same general region,"
‘No trials were held, The government simply issued a statement accusing the Chinese of “actively or passively aiding" the guerrillas,
It was added that both "British and Malaysian military officials :-were known to have been troubled by the concentration of possible security risks at the backs of their troops along the border,"
Sarawak State Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan said in a special broadcast over Radio Malaysia that "The action now being taken is designed to protect the people in the area and eliminate Communist influence."
The Chinese residents were notified through 300,000 leaflets bearing the chief minister's message which were air dropped along the road shortly after dawn. It was not reported what fate might await those Chinese who failed to pick up a leaflet or who couldn't read it.
POLITICAL