We defied orders to kill protesters

MIZORAM, India (AP) – A group of police officers who defied the orders of the Myanmar military to shoot down opponents of the coup told about their experiences after escaping to India. As they spoke, they greeted a three-fingered salute – a symbol of resistance to Myanmar’s military rulers.

“We can’t hurt our people, that’s why we came to Mizoram,” said one of the men, from the northwestern city of Tedim. The state of Mizoram in northeastern India borders Bangladesh and Myanmar.

After the military coup, the police were ordered to “shoot people and not just the people, we were told to shoot our own families if they were not on the side of the army,” he said. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify their claims, although images and reports of the crackdown by Myanmar’s security forces have shown an increase in violence against civilians.

Indian villagers in Mizoram have been sheltering 34 police personnel and a firefighter who entered India for the past two weeks. They spoke to an AP photojournalist on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation against family members still in Myanmar.

Back in Myanmar, the three-fingered salute, which has its roots in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books and movies, is used by youth protesters at mass protests against the military.

Meanwhile, K. Vanlalvena, a lawmaker from Mizoram state, urged the Indian government not to deport the refugees from Myanmar until the situation there returns to normal. The legislature belongs to the Mizo National Front, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party in India.

Those who escaped spend their time watching television and chores. Some carry cell phones and try to connect with families they have been forced to leave behind. At night they all sleep on mattresses on the floor of a single room.

One of them told the AP that they were under the command of the Myanmar military.

“We are all police officers working under the government of Myanmar. We left our family in Myanmar. We don’t know what’s going on with our family, but they will face a lot of trouble from the military. We came to Mizoram for shelter, we will die when we go back there, ”he said.

“We cannot reach our parents because of telecommunication issues, but what we heard is that they are very scared to move out of their home … I hope we will meet again one day,” he added.

Earlier this month, Myanmar asked India to return the police officers who crossed the border. India shares a 1,643-kilometer border with Myanmar and is home to thousands of Myanmar refugees in various states.

Last week, Ramliana, chairman of a village council in Mizoram state, a community body, said 116 Myanmar residents crossed the Tiau River and reached Farkawn Village through a stretch where India’s paramilitary Assam Rifles personnel were not present. He uses one name.

India’s state and federal government officials have not given the exact number of people from Myanmar who crossed into India after the coup.

Last week, India’s Interior Ministry told four Indian states bordering Myanmar – Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – to take measures to prevent refugees from entering India, except on humanitarian grounds.

The ministry said states were not empowered to grant refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military for most of its history since it gained independence from Great Britain in 1948. A gradual move towards democracy over the past decade allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a civilian government from 2016, although the country’s generals retained considerable power. under a military constitution.

Her party won last November’s election with a landslide, but the military intervened before parliament met on Feb. 1, detaining Suu Kyi and other government officials and instituting a state of emergency, alleging that the vote was tainted by fraud.

Verified figures show that more than 200 people have been murdered by security forces in Myanmar since the coup. They have used live fire and rubber bullets against protesters and some prisoners have died in custody.