Explained: Why India-Myanmar Free Movement Regime Will Be Scrapped

Guwahati/New Delhi: 

The porous border between India and Myanmar will be fenced and the arrangement that allows people from both nations to visit either side up to 16 km without travel documents will be scrapped, Home Minister Amit Shah said today.

The free movement regime (FMR), which in its current form enables entry without visa and passport, began as a system to allow tribes who share familial, social and ethnic ties on both sides of the border to keep in touch with their people.

“We will fence the open India-Myanmar border just like how we fenced the border with Bangladesh. We are reassessing the free movement regime with Myanmar, and will end the agreement,” Home Minister Amit Shah said at an event today to welcome newly trained Assam Police commandos who were trained by the army.

From Arunachal Pradesh to Mizoram, India shares a 1,600-km-long porous border with Myanmar.

The Manipur government led by Chief Minister N Biren has been asking the Centre to remove the FMR. It has alleged insurgents from Myanmar, illegal immigrants, and drug traffickers have been misusing the FMR, and crossing over to Manipur to create trouble.

Over 180 have died in ethnic violence between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis since May 3, 2023.

Manipur’s neighbour Mizoram has told the Centre it will oppose any move to fence the border. Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma has said the border was demarcated by the British and so it is unacceptable for people of the same ethnic groups on both sides. Mizoram also doesn’t want the FMR to be scrappe