We defy orders to kill protesters

MIZORAM, India (AP) – A group of police officers who defied Myanmar’s army orders to shoot opponents in the coup explained their experience after escaping to India. As they spoke, they raised 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, who comes from the city of Tedim in the northwest. The state of Mizoram in northeastern India shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

After the army coup, the police were ordered to “shoot people and not just people, we were asked to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army “, he said. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify its claims, although images and reports of repression by security forces in Myanmar have shown an intensification of violence against civilians.

Indian villagers in Mizoram have given refuge to 34 police officers and a firefighter who have been crossing India for the past two weeks. They spoke to an AP photojournalist on condition of anonymity for fears of retribution against family members who were still in Myanmar.

Back in Myanmar, the three-fingered salute, which traces its origins to the books and films of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games, is being used by youth protesters in mass demonstrations against the army.

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

Those who escape spend time watching TV and doing chores. Some carry cell phones and try to connect with families they had to leave behind. At night, everyone sleeps on mattresses on the floor of a single room.

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

“We are all policemen working under the Myanmar government. We left our family in Myanmar. We don’t know what happens to our family, but they will face a lot of army problems. We came to Mizoram to seek refuge, we will die if we return, “he said.

“We can’t reach our parents because of telecommunications problems, but what we’ve heard is that they’re very scared to leave their house … I hope someday we’ll meet again,” he added.

Earlier this month, Myanmar called on India to return police officers who crossed the border. India shares a 1,643-kilometer (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar and is home to thousands of Myanmar refugees in different states.

Last week, Ramliana, chairman of a Mizoram State Village Council, a community agency, said 116 Myanmar citizens crossed the Tiau River and reached the village of Farkawn by a stretch where staff Indian paramilitary Assam Rifles was not present. Use a name.

State and federal government officials in India have not given an exact number of people from Myanmar who have moved to India after the coup.

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

The ministry said states were not allowed to grant refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees or the United Nations Convention against Refugees. its 1967 Protocol.

Myanmar has been ruled by the army for most of its history since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. A progressive step towards democracy over the past decade has allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a civilian government. as of 2016, although the country’s generals maintained substantial power under a military drafting constitution.

His party won last November’s election by a landslide, but the military intervened before parliament met on February 1, arrested Suu Kyi and other government officials and instituted a state of emergency. Alleging that the vote was tainted by fraud.

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