In a nondescript community room in a nondescript village along the Indian-Myanmar border, Kawg Heht Kyaw clings to his mother. The nine-month-old is the youngest person in the room. His mother, Nuzel, 22, who is the second youngest, keeps ruffling his hair, kissing him, grateful that they are together.
Her voice barely a whisper, Nuzel says: “If democracy is restored in Myanmar and Suu Kyi is released, we will definitely go home. If not, we don’t feel safe there. “
Nuzel arrived with her son and husband Joseph, 24, in the village of Chapi in the Siaha district of Mizoram on March 6. Like several Myanmar policemen now on the Indian side, Joseph says he preferred to defect rather than open fire on his own protesting people. against the military for overthrowing the elected government of Myanmar on February 1.
The country has erupted in protests ever since, with Saturday the deadliest day with 90 dead.
Joseph and Nuzel, who came of age under a democratic Myanmar, say that if Joseph had not been a policeman, they would have joined the protesters. Instead, they sneaked out of their home in the police municipality of Matupi in the middle of the night on March 5 on Joseph’s motorcycle and headed to Chapi, the nearest Indian town, more than 80 km away. If he returns now, says Joseph, he will be executed.
There are around 70 Myanmar citizens taking refuge in Chapi village alone, most of whom crossed the border on March 6 and 7, including six women and three children. More than 20 have taken refuge in the neighboring village of Siasi.
Villagers are sheltering in the open due to Saturday’s airstrikes in Deh Bu Noh, Myanmar. (AP)
Of the 1,643 kilometers of border that India shares with Myanmar, 510 kilometers are in Mizoram. Under a free movement regime, residents within 16 km on each side can move freely between countries and can stay for up to 14 days in a row. However, the border has been sealed since the Covid shutdown in March last year, although it remains so porous that the movement is impossible to stop.
There are no official estimates on how many Myanmar citizens have entered India since the coup, although a senior state bureaucrat put their number at more than 700.
Joseph and Nuzel belong to the Matu tribe and therefore cannot speak the language of the Siaha villagers. But the people are part of the larger Zo-Chin ethnic community, which gives the couple a sense of security and underscores Mizoram’s decision to support them despite the Center’s objections.
Myanmar police say the army was leading them to confront the protesters, knowing that several of them were their friends and family. When some of them chose to shoot into the air, they were warned to shoot or kill themselves. Joseph, who is in Chapi with three of the 32 others at his police station, says he saw more than 20 of his family and friends in the crowd he was told to shoot.
Peoples have a bond
The border is porous and many people in Mizoram have family and friends in Myanmar. There is a cultural and ethnic connection, so hundreds of fleeing Myanmar citizens have received refuge from the Mizoram villagers. The state has refused to turn away those who have entered.
At a safe house on the outskirts of Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, Kya Moe, a 28-year-old Cikha agent, says he refused to carry out orders. “If he had fired, many would have died. If I refused, only I would die, ”he says. So Kya Moe left Cikha on a motorcycle, crossed into India from near Zoke village in Champhai district on foot, walked through the jungle to avoid Assam rifles, and drove with 12 other people to Aizawl, arriving on March 9.
Joseph, who joined the Myanmar Police in March 2019, earned about 2.8 lakh kyat, the equivalent of just over 14,000 rupees in India. He and Nuzel worry about how long the generosity of the Chapi residents and the Mizoram government will last.
About 3 km from the community room where the two are staying, is Border Pillar 23 (3), which marks the limit of the indigenous territory. A few meters ahead is Myanmar. With the Center telling state authorities that no one should be allowed to enter through Mizoram, as well as through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, Assam Rifles blocked this route since March 8. deported, which Mizoram has refused to do.
The state official said Union Interior Minister Amit Shah had spoken with Mizoram’s chief minister, Zoramthanga, about the matter. According to him, Zoramthanga said: “Declaring someone a refugee is up to the central government, we cannot do anything about it. But they (the Myanmar people) are our brothers, if they need shelter and food, we will provide it. “
Most of the locals, who have family ties across the border, have joined the citizens of Myanmar. Pakhaw Chozah, general secretary of Mara Thyutlia Py, founded in 1954 and the largest NGO in the area, says it may be an international border for the government, “but for us it is eastern and western Maraland. There is no partition in our minds … Where should they go in times of this trouble? “
Chozah claims that around 300 refugees, including minors, are trapped in the jungles on the Myanmar side now due to the Assam Rifles crackdown, without food or other necessities. “The armies of Myanmar are on the hunt. They are terrified that they will return home before March 21 or their families and property would be destroyed. ” As the largest democracy in the world, India should not reject people who fight for democracy, he adds.
Hlichie, 46, who arrived in Chapi on March 7 with her police husband Kote, 51, says they want nothing from India except to be allowed to stay until the army rules there, and their three children , between the two. 15 and 21 years old, and a daughter-in-law will also be allowed in. “We will be happy.”
Joseph wonders what happened to the protesters he encountered. He and his wife have not been able to communicate with anyone at home.
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