A group of Myanmar police officers have fled to neighbouring India after defying orders to shoot people opposed to last month’s military coup.
Key points:
- Locals have provided shelter, beds and food to the Myanmar nationals on humanitarian grounds
- Some of them are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind
- India’s Home Ministry told several states bordering Myanmar to prevent refugees from entering India
Thirty-four former police officers and a firefighter, who took refuge in the Indian state of Mizoram, said they fear they may never be able to return home.
Mizoram, in north-east India and shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
“We were told to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army,” said a former police officer from Tedim in Myanmar.
“We cannot hurt our own people. That is why we came to Mizoram.”
He declined to be identified, citing concerns his family back in Myanmar could face retribution.
The Associated Press and the ABC have not been able to independently verify his claims.
Locals in Mizoram have provided shelter, beds and food to the Myanmar nationals on humanitarian grounds.
Those who escaped have spent their time watching local television and doing daily chores.
Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind.
At night, they sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room.
Earlier this month, Myanmar asked India to return the police officers who crossed the border.
Last week, India’s Home Ministry told four Indian states bordering Myanmar to take measures to prevent refugees from entering India except on humanitarian grounds.
The ministry said the states were not authorised to accord refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 or its 1967 Protocol.
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar after five decades of military rule.
In the face of persistent strikes and protests against the takeover, the junta has responded with an increasingly violent crackdown and efforts to severely limit the information reaching the outside world.
Security forces have fired on crowds, killing hundreds, internet access has been severely restricted, private newspapers have been barred from publishing and protesters, journalists and politicians have been arrested in large numbers.
AP