Myanmar ex-soldiers look to build a new life in Mizoram

The 74 Myanmar army personnel who fled to India two weeks ago because of the civil war between rebel forces and the junta aren't the only ones who came to India for safety. In Mizoram's Champhai's town, 25 km from the border, there are 41 Myanmar army and police personnel who have abandoned their uniforms, crossed into India at different times over the past one year and now work as labourers and porters.

- Prawesh Lama

On Saturday, many had gone out to work. Some refused to speak, fearing for the safety of their families back home. But at least eight among them agreed to speak.

They narrated why they shed their uniform, rebelled against their own, and chose to live this life in a foreign land. This is their story.

Sergeant Thang Liankham, 54, who crossed over to India in September 2021, said he had won medals for valour. "I was part of the LIG 269 military camp and was in uniform for over 20 years.

After the military coup in Myanmar, many of us were seen with suspicion for helping rebel forces.

In one operation, I sustained a bullet injury on my right shoulder when rebel forces fired. My bosses refused to send me for medical aid because they thought I was helping the rebel forces," he said. "That day, I realised how our army is against our own people." Unlike other refugee camps where people are lodged in tents, these 41 along with their families are staying in a government building belonging to a defunct industrial training institute.

The other refugees in the complex requested that these men be given shelter on the first floor (above them) as a sign of respect for voluntarily leaving their jobs.

Those with families share a room, bed sheets form a makeshift partition between their kitchen and bedroom. The singles are housed in a dormitory in what could have been a classroom of the institute.

They do not have their old uniforms. Memories and evidence of their past are their photographs in uniform and identity cards saved in their cellphones.