Three Myanmar police constables defy junta’s orders, seek refuge in India

Three Myanmar police constables have crossed over to India’s northeastern state of Mizoram to seek refuge there, rather than carry out orders given by the military junta, an Indian police official said on Thursday.

The three men came across the border near the town of North Vanlaiphai on Wednesday afternoon and the local authorities were assessing their health and making arrangements for them, the police superintendent in the Mizoram’s Serchhip district said.

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“What they said is they got instructions from the military rulers which they cannot obey, so they have run away,” Superintendent Stephen Lalrinawma told Reuters.

“They are seeking refuge because of the military rule in Myanmar,” Lalrinawma said.

India shares a 1,643 kilometer (1,021 mile) land border with Myanmar, where more than 50 people have been killed during protests against military coup on February 1. The junta overthrew a democratically-elected government, and detained its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, having disputed her party’s landslide victory in November.

India is already home to thousands of refugees from Myanmar, including ethnic Chin people and Rohingya who fled the southeast Asian country during previous bouts of violence.

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