In India, Myanmar refugees seek asylum in a home the British took away

The Chin people of Myanmar are separated from their ethnic brethren the Mizos of India only by Britain’s colonial era border

Fleeing the post-coup violence in Myanmar, many are returning to families across that border. Among them, police who refused to machine gun protesters

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An ethnic Chin refugee mother and child from Myanmar in India. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:19pm, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 6:46pm, 11 Mar 2021

Visits to relatives in Champhai, Mizoram, used to be effortless for Maisek Thanhawla. She would leave her home in Tahan, western Myanmar, reach the border of Mizoram in the far north east of India, show her passport and visa at the immigration checkpoint and pass through.

But on March 5, her journey was more convoluted. To stop Myanmar nationals like her from fleeing the country following the February 1 military coup and entering India, the Mizoram authorities have closed the checkpoints. A gate on the bridge that connects Champhai with Rih in Myanmar has also been locked.

Fortunately for Thanhawla and the 100 or so others who have crossed into India from Chin state in Myanmar, the border is long and porous.

“My husband and I had to walk through the woods and wade through the Tiau river to reach Champhai. We had to get away from the repression going on in my country and this was the obvious choice,” said Thanhawla, 34.

A demonstrator in Myanmar gives a three-finger salute – a symbol of the protests – in front of an image of Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: Reuters

Initially, speaking on the phone through a Mizoram interpreter, she denied being a refugee, insisting she was simply visiting relatives. Only gradually did she admit that she had run away from Myanmar and had no plan to return.