By Devjyot Ghoshal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian security forces intensified patrols on the border with Myanmar on Friday to stop refugees after some police officers crossed over to escape and received orders from the military junta there, officials said.
“From now on, we will not let anyone in,” Maria Zuali, a senior government official in Mizoram’s Champhai district, told Reuters by telephone.
The move follows the apostasy across the border of some low-ranking police officers in Myanmar who did not want to obey orders to suppress protests against the junta.
Myanmar’s army overthrew a democratically elected government on February 1 and staged nationwide protests that killed more than 50 people. An army spokesman did not comment on what happened to the police.
Indian soldiers and police patrolled across the border on Friday.
In the Serchhip district, senior official Kumar Abhishek said eight people, including a woman and a child, had crossed the border and were being cared for.
“We expect a few more people to come,” he said.
Authorities have made preparations to accommodate between 30-40 people, he said.
A total of about 30 Myanmar police and their relatives have been crossing into India in the past few days, a senior police officer in Mizoram said, including some who came overnight.
The official, who requested anonymity, said people were slipping in despite intensive patrolling by Indian soldiers along a border that embraces the Tiau River that flows between wooded hills.
“People come from different routes,” the official said, “the border is porous, you can’t prevent it.”
A federal security official from India said the police who were crossing said they did not want to carry out orders from the army to suppress the protests.
“They claim there are human rights violations and they have been asked to shoot at civilians,” the official said, also asking for anonymity.
The influx of such refugees, especially the police, is putting India in a predicament due to New Delhi’s close ties with the Myanmar army, known as the Tatmadaw.
For the past two years, the Tatmadaw have been operating at the request of India to flush up insurgents along the northeastern border. India, for its part, donated Myanmar its first submarine last year.
“This is a bit of a difficult situation for India because diplomatic balance is crucial,” the official said.
The Indian Foreign Ministry has not responded to questions from Reuters about the extent of the recent arrivals and about what it intends to do with those who have already arrived.
(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; Edited by Sanjeev Miglani and Angus MacSwan)