Members of United Liberation Front Assam (ULFA), an armed separatist group from Assam State in northeast India, have established four camps inside Burma and recently started moving camps deeper into dense forest areas, according to news reports in India.The ULFA activities were reportedly disclosed by a ULFA member who recently surrendered to the Indian authorities. The ULFA has 500 troops based in Hukong Valley of Chin state in northwest Burma, according to Khaing Pray Thein, a correspondent based at the Burma-Bangladesh border.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times newspaper, the ULFA is sending new recruits in small groups to the camps in Burma for training. Its four major camps in Burma support 150 to 200 members.  Senior ULFA officials reportedly have ties with Burmese military officials.

“The group has camps both in Bangladesh and in Khanti, Chin state,” said Khaing Pray Thein, adding that the group moved around freely in Bangladesh until 2001 when the Bangladesh Awami League party came into power. According to the Indian Army sources, the total strength of ULFA is around 3,000, while various other sources put the figure ranging from 4,000 to 6,000.

In November 2009, Bangladesh launched a major crackdown on ULFA militants operating from its soil by apprehending two top leaders and subsequently pushed the ULFA into Indian territory.

Last month, the Indian Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai met with Burmese generals in Naypyidaw to discuss border issues. The Indian delegation reportedly asked the Burmese government to launch a search in the Kachin area for Paresh Baruah, the ULFA commander-in-chief.

Sources in Chin State say that the Burmese army has not taken any action against the presence of the ULFA inside Burma. Local residents accuse ULFA members of committing acts of robbery, extortion and physical abuse.

Khaing Pray Thein said the Burmese army appears to be indifferent to the presence of the ULFA, and it also seems unconcerned about another Indian separatist group, the Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF), which has a strong presence near Maungdaw Township in Arakan State.

He said the MPLF reportedly has 1,000 troops based in the jungle about 10 miles north of Maungdaw. MPLF leaders live in Maundaw and own several businesses there.

“The local people are forbidden to approach the MPLF-controlled area,” he said.

India and Burma share a 1,630-km border. Insurgent groups such as the United National Liberation Front, the People’s Liberation Army, and Naga and Kuki insurgent groups are active in four Indian border states including Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. The Indian authorities say the groups are involved in smuggling arms and drugs into India from the Sino-Burmese border area.

Many of these groups had been operating in both Bangladesh and Burma. However, since the Bangladesh government improved its relations with India some years ago, rebel groups in Bangladesh began moving into Burma. According to observers, the Burmese government views the groups as buffer forces and also depends on them for information on Chin rebels and other groups that oppose the  Burmese regime.