Free Movement Regime Between India And Myanmar To Be Scrapped, Says Amit Shah
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended the immediate suspension of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar, said Home Minister Amit Shah on a X (formerly known as Twitter) post. He added that the Ministry of External Affairs is currently in the process of scrapping the FMR.
It is Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji”s resolve to secure our borders.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar be scrapped to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 8, 2024
Under the FMR, members of the hill tribes – citizens of India and Myanmar – living in towns on the border to enter up to 16 km on either side of the border can cross without requiring a visa and can stay up to two weeks.
This comes amidst the ethnic violence in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo community, who have ties with communities in Myanmar’s Chin State, and Meiteis. The state has been in a state of turmoil since May last year, with over 200 people dead, 67,000 people internally displaced and 300 churches vandalized or destroyed.
A part of the Modi government”s Act East policy, the FMR was implemented in 2018 when diplomatic relations between India and Myanmar were booming. The FMR was to implemented in 2017 but was deferred due to the Rohingya refugee crisis that emerged on August.
The meeting follows Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh”s Delhi visit to meet Amit Shah on February 3. Shah had announced the central government”s fence the 1,643-km border with Myanmar. Previously, the Kuki-Zo people, who share ethnic ties with those across the border, had permissions to travel freely across the borders for up to two weeks and stay within 16 kms of the other”s territory.
Chief ministers of Mizoram and Nagaland have opposed the plans to fence off India.
Modi has avoided travel to the state and is yet to speak on the matter. His silence on the escalating issue has come under severe criticism.
