India asked to return police officers crossing the border

Protesters respond as tear gas is fired by police during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 6, 2021

Fresh clashes broke out between police and protesters in Yangon on Saturday

Myanmar has asked neighboring India to return several police officers who crossed the border after refusing to carry out orders.

Indian officials said the officers and their families had crossed the border in the past few days.

In a letter, the Myanmar authorities asked for their return “to maintain friendly relations”.

Myanmar was seized by mass protests and strikes following a military coup last month.

Security forces took a hard line against the protests and at least 55 deaths were reported.

Police on Saturday night raids in the largest city, Yangon, carried out for further protests in defiance of the military.

Video footage showed security forces repeatedly firing on buildings as they moved into one street to arrest.

Hours later, thousands of protesters gathered in Yangon and the city of Mandalay.

Protesters and residents hold candle and pray during a ceremony in honor of protesters who died during clashes with the army across the country, Yangon, Myanmar, March 6, 2021

A ceremony was held late Saturday in honor of the lives lost during the protests against the coup

It follows protests Saturday in the country, with Yangon police using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse crowds.

There were no reports of new casualties.

What about the police officers seeking refuge?

Deputy Commissioner Maria CT Zuali, a senior official in the Champhai district in the Indian state of Mizoram, told Reuters news agency that she had received a letter from her counterpart in the Falam district in Myanmar returning police officers. .

The letter said Myanmar had information on eight police officers who had come over to India.

“In order to maintain friendly relations between the two neighboring countries, you are kindly requested to detain and hand over eight Myanmar police officers who arrived in Indian territories to Myanmar,” the letter reads.

Protesters protest against military coup in Yangon, Myanmar on March 6, 2021

Protesters demand the release of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Ms Zuali said she was awaiting instructions from the Indian Interior Ministry in Delhi.

According to Reuters, in recent days, about 30 people, including the officials and their family members, have crossed the border into India.

On Saturday, numerous other Myanmar citizens waited at the border in hopes of escaping the unrest, the AFP news agency reported, citing Indian officials.

How did the unrest start?

Myanmar’s army took power in early February after detaining democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Days later, a civil disobedience movement began, with many people refusing to return to work, and some taking part in large-scale street protests.

Myanmar’s security forces responded with violent action and fired directly at unarmed protesters. The army did not comment on the deaths.

More than 1,700 people have been detained since the coup, according to UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, including lawmakers, protesters and at least 29 journalists.

Ms Bachelet said the figures could be much higher due to the large scale of the protests and the difficulties in monitoring the development.

Myanmar in profile

  • Myanmar, also known as Burma, became independent from Britain in 1948. Most of its modern history has been under military rule.

  • Restrictions began to weaken from 2010, leading to free elections in 2015 and the installation of a government led by veteran opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the following year.

  • In 2017, the Myanmar army responded to attacks on police by Rohingya militants with deadly repression and drove more than half a million Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh in what the UN later called a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’ mentioned.

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