Myanmar soldiers and police have fled the country to India in defiance of the coup. The security agencies that have managed to escape revealed that they were ordered to kill civilians.
Kyaw, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, was among 40 Myanmar nationals who fled to India.
The violence has seen more than 300 Myanmar nationals , many of them police officers and their families, as well as two military personnel enter Mizoram, a local helping with the border crossings told France 24.
Kyaw, a 24-year-old rifleman who said he had served in the military for around four years, is a member of the Chin, a mainly Christian minority in Myanmar.
He told said he had been ordered to inflict lethal violence among the Chin and inform on them.
“The military was giving orders to kill innocent people, who are like my own mother and father,” he said
“Why should I kill my own people.”
He said it took him four days to get to Mizoram on a motorcycle and on foot.
After calling home when he reached India, the father-of-two said he found out that his family house had been searched and his father arrested.
Another rifleman Asaid he also feared for his family’s safety.
“My friends shot at protesters and I was told to shoot as well… But I cannot kill my people. So, I ran away at night,” the 21-year-old said.
Others can take up to 10 days on foot to reach the remote and mountainous state along Myanmar’s western border, including via a river, paddy fields, and sleeping in forests.
Those who make it are picked up by sympathetic locals, who help them get to relatives’ homes or stay with others willing to shelter them from authorities.
But eight Myanmar citizens have been “pushed back”, according to a statement last week by Assam Rifles, a national paramilitary force operating in the region.
Those who escaped said they fled without their families because the journey was so difficult.
They arrived with just the clothes on their backs and what they could carry, and relied on locals who brought them food, blankets and cash.
At least 180 people have been killed in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group, as the junta has cracked down on relentless democracy rallies across the country.
