More than 100 police officers have so far joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, an anti-military movement that has become increasingly violent in its recent crackdown on peaceful protesters following the Feb. 1 coup by the Burmese military.
The Irrawaddy reports that seven policewomen from Tanintharyi in southern Burma have also joined the movement, declaring that they will not return to work until after the return of the democratically elected government. Seventeen police officers from the northernmost Kachin State and Tanintharyi also participated in the campaign.
Officials and several media reports indicate that many people have begun fleeing from unrest in Burma to India, some of them police officers who did not want to participate in the violent crackdown on demonstrations.
Myanmar’s military responded with deadly force after a Feb. 1 coup that toppled the democratically elected government led by Ung San Suu Kyi sparked mass protests. The United Nations said at least 38 people were killed in Myanmar on March 3.
Indian police say nine people, three of them police, crossed the border into India’s Mizoram province on March 3, refusing to crack down on the protests. India shares a border with Myanmar that is more than 1,600 kilometers long.
According to The Hindu, at least 20 people have crossed the border since the 3rd. The Hindu, citing locals, reports that at least 50 people have arrived in Champhai and Serchhip districts of Mizoram so far.
The Hindustan Times quoted officials in Mizoram as saying that local residents have been told to report any Burmese they see crossing the border immediately.
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