There has been huge outcry across several states in the north east, particularly Mizoram and Nagaland, over the announcement made by union home minister Amit Shah on January 20, to permanently fence the 1,643 km long Indo-Myanmar border and to suspend the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between people living within 16 kms radius of the border.
Shah said in Guwahati: “Our border with Myanmar is an open border. The Narendra Modi government has taken a decision that the India-Myanmar border will be secure and the whole border will be fenced like the Bangladesh border. The government is reconsidering our Free Movement Regime agreement with Myanmar, and is going to end this ease of coming and going.”
The Free Movement Regime, put in place in the 1970s, allows people living near the border from India and Myanmar to travel up to 16 km into the other country without needing a visa.
A border resident needs to have a border pass, valid for a year, to stay in the other country for about two weeks per visit.
The FMR also envisaged the promotion of localised border trade through customs stations and designated markets apart from helping the people of Myanmar access better education and healthcare facilities on the Indian side of the border.
Now all that will go and worse, if the border is fenced it will bring great hardship on people belonging to the same ethnicity on both sides of the border.
In Nagaland, the people most affected if the FMR comes into effect are mainly from Noklak, Mon, Kiphire and Phek districts. Nagaland has around 215 km border with Myanmar.
In particular, it may be noted that Konyaks and Khiamniungans among other Naga tribes will be affected most. There are around 50 Khiamniungan villages in India while 150 are located within the Sagaing Region of Myanmar.
Similarly, there are around 131 Konyak villages under Mon district in India whereas there are around 40 in Myanmar.
The house of the chief angh of Longwa has sleeping quarters inside the Indian border, while other rooms like the kitchen area fall in Myanmar.
Even in Mizoram, the FMR will directly affect Mizos and Chins of Myanmar who share deep ethnicity. The FMR has been opposed by political parties and various organisations in both Mizoram and Nagaland.
The decision to scrap the FMR and fence the Indo-Myanmar border came after strong demands made by Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh in September last year.
Biren Singh had made the demand for cancellation of FMR by citing the ethnic conflict in the state, between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. Kukis share ethnic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram and Chins of Myanmar, and have been asking to be unified under a separate administration.
At a press meet in Imphal, Singh had said the FMR has been the biggest impediment in Manipur’s efforts to curb the influx of illegal migrants from Myanmar through the unfenced border. However, Biren’s claim of huge influx of Chin-Kuki immigrants was contradicted by Manipur government which admitted that only 718 Myanmar nationals, including 301 children, were detained in Manipur.
Now with the entire Indo-Myanmar border touching Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram coming more or less under the control of pro-democracy and anti-Myanmarese junta forces, enforcing FMR will be a herculean task unless Delhi sends out olive branch to the militias to help in monitoring movement.