Myanmar Coup – Fallout extends beyond protests with people fleeing to Mizoram, Chinese factories vandalized

Demonstrators take cover behind a barricade during an anti-coup protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on March 15.   © Reuters

The protests spreading across Myanmar continue unabated even as Military Junta tries to enforce martial law. Several cases of firing on protesters have been reported across the country. It has been reported by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group  that 38 persons were shot dead on Sunday, 22 in Yangon district alone. The activist group claimed that over 180 people have been killed by security forces since the coup with Sunday being the bloodiest day.

More than 100 people fleeing Myanmar have entered a small village in Mizoram, Associated Press reported. Scores had already arrived since last month’s military coup along the  1,643 km long border of India with Myanmar. Four states bordering Myanmar are Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and Home Ministry has asked these states to be on vigil to prevent influx of Myanmar people except on humanitarian grounds. The states were not authorised to accord refugee status to anyone entering India from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 or its 1967 Protocol.

China, which has been supportive of the coup was forced to react when 32 of Chinese factories in Yangon came under arson attacks causing a damage of at least 37 million USD and injuries to Chinese nationals. China has urged the Myanmar Army Generals to stop the violence and guarantee safety of Chinese nationals while conspicuously not mentioning deaths of protesters. Taiwan has asked its companies in Myanmar to fly Taiwan flags so that they are not mistaken for Chinese. Myanmar’s military has extended martial law to broader sections of Yangon after the deaths of dozens of protesters in the city’s garment production hub, where several Chinese factories have suffered arson attacks.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is appalled by the escalating violence in Myanmar at the hands of the country’s military,” according to a statement by his spokesperson. Anti China sentiments have risen since the coup due to the tacit support for the Military from Beijing.