Myanmar police seek refuge in India

Some Myanmar police officers have crossed over the border into northeastern India to escape taking orders from a military junta that is trying to suppress protests against last month's coup, an Indian police official said on Thursday. According to reports at least 19 Myanamr police men have arrived India and more are expected. This is the first reported case of police fleeing Myanmar. These police officers came across the border near the town of North Vanlaiphai in India's Mizoram state on Wednesday afternoon and authorities there were assessing their health and making arrangements for them, the police superintendent in Serchhip district said. "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.

The men have crossed into Champhai and Serchhip, two districts in Mizoram that share a porous border with Myanmar, the official said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. All the men, who are lower-ranking policemen, were unarmed, the official said. "We are expecting more to come," he said, citing intelligence reports.The official said that the policemen crossed over fearing persecution for disobeying orders and would be temporarily housed by local Indian authorities. India shares a 1,600 km (1,000 mile) land border with Myanmar. 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. Myanmar's ruling military council has stressed the importance of police and soldiers doing their duty.