Evening star., 1942-07-22
100000 Indians Trek
To Homeland After
Invasion Of Burma
Up to 400, 900 Others
Still in Country May
Leuve in October
BY w. S. MUNDY.


ended and less than dozen are
now dribbling across the frontier
daily into their homeland.
According tn evacuation officials
there are between 100000 and 400, 200
Indians still in Burma and these
may begin to stream in early in
October when the monsoon no
longer bars their exit if the Japa-
nese, who repeatedly are anxious
to retain them for labor. do not
succeed in "persuading" them to
stay.
Officially more than 250,000 ref
ugees crossed the Burma-India
frontier. Another 400 900 were evac-
uated by the government and an
estimated 100000 Burmese and In
dians left Burma by land and sea.
Dennis Atkinson. monacled As
year-old forestry officer who super
vised the Burma side of the evacua-
tions routes, and Justice H. NJ
Brand, who was in charge in India
are preparing reports on this great
mass movement of people through
the widest and most inaccessible
mountain country in the world. I
understand that, although they are
critical of some aspects OF the ar
rangements, they both refute the
claim of Indian nationalist leaders
which is likely to become major
political issue-that Europeans got
preferentia1 treatments
Food Along Route.
The Indians came over the So
called BLACK" route from Kalewa
through Tamu and Mintha to
Imphal, which is much longer but
much easier than the other routes
and along which there is no limit
on numbers More than 5000 used
this route from February to June,
many of them riding free in carts
and motor vehicles. Another factor
in using this route was that it
crossed fertile valleys where rice and
water were available for the refu-
gees, many of whom were diverted
along the Mintha road from Tamu
to Imphal so that Indians working
on the Tamu-Palel-Imphal road
would not be upset by the sight of
the suffering of their fellow country
men and women.
The white" route where so or so
miles of the trip were along the Yu
River or 36 miles through the hills
from Sitthaung to Tamu. The first
route was limited by the number of
boats available and only 60 or 80
persons could be brought in by boat
every three days. The hill route was
limited by the number of elephants
available and its capacity was so
persons daily.
Official supervision of the evacua-
tion was ended on the Burma side
on May Is by the weather and the
Japanese occupation of Kalews
where from eight to ten thousand
Indians were trapped in rest camps.
During the next month, however,
25,OOO Indians, including those
trapped in Kalews, got through to
India. Also after May IS, another
80 1000 unexpected refugees streamed
into India by way of the northern
routes. These were in a pitiful con-
dition and official figures disclose
that 20 per cent of them died from
exhaustion, malnutrition, dysenterv.
cholera and malaria on the 20-day
journey from the India- Burma bor-
der to 1mphaI.
They were walking skeletons
with no lining in their intestinal
canals SO that they were unable to
absorb food when we got it to them" /"
doctor told me. Even first class
nursing and first class hospitals,
which cannot be provided in this
wild, Inaccessible country. could
have ma i've, saved ny very few of them. +"
Many Perish in Mountain ins,
They were part of the vast army
OF refugees heading for safety when
the rapidity of the Jap advance
through upper Burma left them
with no alternative but to walk to
India by various converging routes.
The villages along the way became
tombs for those who crawled into
huts to die. Hundreds of bodies lit
tered the jungle and mountain
paths. The Burmese looted what
few possessions the refugees had.
Then they came to the great noun
tain range rising 5000 feet along
the frontier ana saw mountains ris-
ing interminably in front of them.
Many Of them just laid down
then and died and more perished as
they staggered up into the mists,
rains and freezing nights" an evac-
uation ofacial told me. "It was a
miracle that 10000 got across and
that, appalling as the mortality was.
80 per cent of them go on living"
1t was remarkable tribute to
the small number of doctors that
there was no epidemic of smallpox,
cholera, or typhus and the mortality
among the refugees until May IS
was practically negligible. One
critical period, however, was Feb
ruary Is and rs when only the
prompt arrival of big supply of
vaccine prevented an outbreak OF
cholera. During the next few weeks
doctors made 10000 injections.
There appear to be only three
tenable criticisms of the evacua-
ton which included exceptional
difficulties because OF the wild ma
ture of the country and the gen.
orally poor physique and stamina
I
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