Guwahati/New Delhi:
The Centre has tightened the rules for movement of people from either side of the border in India and Myanmar, sources said.
The new rules further restrict movements of people from 16 km under the free movement regime (FMR) to 10 km now, on either side.
The FMR, which in its current form enables entry without visas and passports, began as a formal system in the 1950s to allow tribes who share familial, social and ethnic ties on both sides of the border to keep in touch with their people, though it was not known by that acronym officially till decades later.
While the Centre has announced it would scrap the FMR, no official notification in this regard was ever made, sources said.
For Manipur, the Centre has asked the state to send two police personnel and two health officials to designated entry and exit points at the outposts of the Assam Rifles, the border-guarding and counter-insurgency force that operates under the Indian Army in Manipur.
A total of 43 designated crossing points will be set up for holders of “border pass” issued by an authorised representative of the Assam Rifles, according to a letter sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the Manipur government. NDTV has seen the letter.
Only those living in the “border area” – defined as within 10 km on either side – are eligible to apply for the “border pass” for a stay of up to seven days; the pass-holder has to return it at the same crossing point where it was issued.
Those living in villages beyond the “border areas” (the 10-km zone) and citizens of any third nation cannot be issued the border pass.
The border pass will be issued to only one adult, and minors (below 18 years old) have to be accompanied by parents. The details of a maximum number of three children can be captured in a single border pass belonging to either parent.
The biometric details of Myanmar nationals crossing over to India using border passes will be captured by Assam Rifles’ representatives during entry and exit, the new rules say.
Police representatives will go to the places, where the Myanmar nationals have mentioned as their address of visit in India, to verify them. Any border pass holder found going beyond the 10-km zone or staying for more than seven days will be punished under India’s laws, the rules say.
In pilot mode, eight entry and exit points will be opened as soon as the two police and two health personnel are made available, and when the software to capture details of border pass holders is stabilised, the MHA said in the letter.
Apart from the pilot, the entry and exit points will be set up in two phases – 14 in the first phase after installing biometric machines, and 21 in the second phase after setting up more infrastructure.
The proof of identity can be issued by the station house officer of the local police station or an equivalent rank in Myanmar’s case, and a local village chief or a village authority stating the applicant belongs to the village falling within the 10-km “border area” on either side. The proof of identity document is valid for one year.
Manipur has been asking the Centre to scrap the FMR and fence the porous Indo-Myanmar border, while its neighbours Mizoram and Nagaland have opposed both proposals, citing ties with kindred tribes across the border.
Manipur’s valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of the state and who share ethnic ties with people in Myanmar’s Chin State, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights, political representation, drugs trafficking, and illegal immigration.
Indian and Myanmarese nationals were allowed to visit each other’s territories up to 40 km without visas or passports after an agreement of sorts between the two neighbours in the 1950s. In 1968, India tightened the FMR with a new permit system. The rise of insurgency in Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland then sparked concerns over the FMR on the Indian side.
In 2004, India limited the FMR distance to 16 km from 40 km. In addition, instead of allowing people to cross from multiple points, only three places were allowed to be used as crossing points – Pangsau in Arunachal Pradesh, Moreh in Manipur, and Zokhawthar in Mizoram.
In 2018, India and Myanmar signed the Agreement on Land Border Crossing, which added more regulations and harmonised the existing FMR.
Manipur shares 400 km of the 1,640 km-long India-Myanmar border. Fencing on the mostly porous border has started. It is expected to take a couple of years to fence the entire length of the border completely.
