Operation Dragon King ( my, နဂါးမင်း စစ်ဆင်ရေး), officially known as Operation Nagamin in English, was a military operation carried in 1978 out by the Tatmadaw and immigration officials in northern Arakan, Burma (present-day Rakhine State,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

), during the socialist rule of

Ne Win Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...

Background

The Rohingya people are an

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

that live in northern Arakan, Burma (present-day Rakhine State,

), who have suffered historical persecution by the Burmese government and Buddhist majority. After General

and his Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) seized power in a coup in 1962, the government systematically dissolved Rohingya political and social organizations. The end of the

liberation war Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...

in neighbouring Bangladesh strengthened the Burmese government's fears of "foreign invaders" infiltrating their country. So in 1977, the government began its preparations for Operation Dragon King, which commenced at the start of the following year.

Events

The official purpose of Operation Dragon King was to register citizens in northern Arakan and expel so-called "foreigners" from the area prior to a national census. Immigration officials and military personnel conducted the operation together, with the latter being accused by Rohingya refugees of forcibly evicting villagers through intimidation, rape and murder. The operation began on 6 February 1978, beginning in the village of Sakkipara in the Sittwe District, where there were mass round ups of civilians. In the span of over three months, approximately 200,000 to 250,000 refugees, mostly Rohingya Muslims, fled to Bangladesh. The government of Burma estimated that 150,000 fled during the operation, and proclaimed that the mass exodus signified that Rohingyas were in-fact "illegal immigrants". The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the government of Bangladesh provided emergency relief to the refugees, but were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis. Bangladesh requested assistance from the United Nations, and a UNHCR relief mission was sent to the region. On 31 July 1978, the governments of Burma and Bangladesh reached an agreement regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, and 180,000 returned to Burma following the agreement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragon King, Operation History of Myanmar (1948–present) Internal conflict in Myanmar Conflicts in 1978 1978 in Burma

Background

Events

See also

References