Myanmar asks India to return eight police who fled across border

[rooster59]

Myanmar asks India to return eight police who fled across border

By Devjyot Ghoshal

 

FILE PHOTO: A man rides his motorised two-wheeler across the Indo-Myanmar border bridge at the border town of Moreh, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri/File photo

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Authorities in Myanmar have asked India to return several police officers who sought refuge to avoid taking orders from a military junta that seized power in the Southeast Asian country last month, an official in northeast India said on Saturday.

 

Around 30 Myanmar police and their family members came across the border seeking refuge in recent days, as the junta's suppression of protesters has turned increasingly violent, with dozens killed since the Feb. 1 coup.

 

The senior-most official in Champhai, a district in the Indian state of Mizoram, told Reuters that she had received a letter from her counterpart in Myanmar's Falam district requesting the return of eight police "in order to uphold friendly relations."

 

Deputy Commissioner Maria C.T. Zuali said on Saturday that she was "waiting for the direction" from the India's Ministry for Home Affairs in New Delhi.

 

Although there have been instances recounted on social media of police joining the civil disobedience movement and protests against the junta, this is the first reported case of police fleeing Myanmar.

 

In the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Myanmar authorities said they had information on eight police personnel who had crossed into India. The letter listed details for four police, aged between 22 and 25 years, including a female officer.

 

"In order to uphold friendly relations between the two neighbour countries, you are kindly requested to detain 8 Myanmar police personnel who had arrived to Indian territories and hand-over to Myanmar," the letter said.

 

India's federal home ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. India's foreign ministry responded to a request for comment by referring to a statement given at a media briefing on Friday which said the ministry was still "ascertaining the facts."

 

(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal, Additional reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-07

 

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[simon43]

It will be interesting to see how India responds.  They are not part of Asean, so can 'stick' their noses into Myanmar's affairs if they so wish.  If the policemen and their families are returned, I think they (the policemen) will be in for a world of hurt.

 

The best response would be to state that no request for their return has been received from the Myanmar government, ie the elected government of ASSK....

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"In order to uphold friendly relations between the two neighbour countries, you are kindly requested to detain 8 Myanmar police personnel who had arrived to Indian territories and hand-over to Myanmar," the letter said.

There will only be 'friendly relations' when the Burmese dictators want something.

They have zero honour.

[nobodysfriend]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"in order to uphold friendly relations."

If India detains the burmese policemen and sends them back to Burma , they are not better than these burmese criminals in uniforms .

" Friendly relations " ?

Whom wants to have friendly relations to a non-elected , dictatorial regime that oppresses and kills it's own people ?

If the burmese miltary does not allow free elections very soon , there is  a civil war coming .

This time is different .

[Srikcir]

The police were right not to seek asylum in Thailand but rather to a REAL democratic nation.

While India is not a signatory to the 1951 refuge act and 1967 protocol like Thailand (I believe), India respects UNHCR's mandate for other nationals (unlike Thailand I believe), mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

ref. www. UNHCR.org

India military hasn't tried a coup since 1947.

ref. Quora

[from the home of CC]

28 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

If India detains the burmese policemen and sends them back to Burma , they are not better than these burmese criminals in uniforms .

" Friendly relations " ?

Whom wants to have friendly relations to a non-elected , dictatorial regime that oppresses and kills it's own people ?

If the burmese miltary does not allow free elections very soon , there is  a civil war coming .

This time is different .

and how would 'civil war' occur unless some country became involved and armed the protesters, is that what you think will happen?

[Burma Bill]

59 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

there is  a civil war coming

 In my opinion, no need for a war - one of these targeting the Junta Generals headquarters would be sufficient:-

 

 

[Patong2021]

India already has dirty hands in Burma. As one of the top trade partners (Thailand, China and Singapore are the others) international sanctions have meant nothing to Indian profit seekers.  If it is India's interests the Myanmar refugees will be thrown back without second thought.

 

Myanmar's dictators  have had a free hand because Singapore, China, India and Thailand provided the foreign capital and trade access that allowed it. If the free world wants to help Myanmar, it must also target the  sanction busting nations. Unfortunately, with many western countries dependent upon India's serum institute for their Covid vaccines and reliant on India for much of their medical supplies, no one will say anything. As for Singapore, it will continue being the Switzerland of Asia offering  safe haven for the regional despots. And Thailand, well, what's changed since the time of Pol Pot when Thailand  traded with the regime and provided safe haven?