Tighter guidelines issued to regulate movement of people between the two countries; earlier, those living within 16 km of border were allowed to cross but the limit has now been set at 10 km.
Months after announcing that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Myanmar border has been entirely suspended, the Union Home Ministry has brought in fresh protocol to regulate the movement of people living within 10 kilometres on either side of the largely unfenced international border.
A senior government official told The Hindu that the notification ending the FMR, which involves a bilateral agreement with Myanmar, is yet to be notified by the External Affairs Ministry.
Home Minister Amit Shah had announced on February 8 that the FMR had been scrapped to ensure internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of the northeastern States. However, the new guidelines indicate that the regime has not been done away with but stricter regulations, such as reducing the range of free movement to 10 km from the earlier 16 km, have been introduced.
“There have been verbal announcements on ending FMR but formal orders are awaited,” the official said.
A February 16 order by the Manipur Governor regarding temporary suspension of the FMR along the Manipur border said, “MHA, Government Of India has recommended for scrapping the FMR to MEA, GoI and a formal order in this regard is awaited.”
The scrapping of the FMR was opposed by Nagaland and Mizoram. The Nagaland government, led by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, an ally of the BJP, has passed a resolution in the Assembly against scrapping the FMR.
In Manipur, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has attributed the ongoing ethnic violence, which has claimed more than 250 lives since May 2023, to the unregulated movement of people from across the border. On September 23, 2023, he urged the Home Ministry to cancel the FMR along the India-Myanmar border.
A senior government official said that pressure from political circles and civil society groups was one of the reasons for finalising the “Instructions for regulation of cross-border movement of people of border area across the Indo-Myanmar Border” from 43 designated entry and exit points, instead of entirely scrapping the regime.
Familial and ethnic ties
The FMR came into existence in 1968 as people on either side of the border have familial and ethnic ties. The territorial limit of free movement then was 40 km, which was reduced to 16 km in 2004, and additional regulations were enforced in 2016.
According to the new guidelines, a resident crossing the border from India to Myanmar will be given a “border pass” by the Assam Rifles for stay up to seven days in the neighbouring country. The Assam Rifles is the primary border guarding force along the 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar along the States of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km).
New rules
For entry into India from Myanmar, individuals will have to report at the designated border crossing points and fill a form.
The Assam Rifles will conduct the document inspection followed by a security and health check by the State police and health department officials, respectively.
The Assam Rifles will upload all the forms on the Indo-Myanmar Border portal, record biometrics, and issue a border pass with a photograph of the applicant and a QR code. The pass will have to be deposited on return at the same crossing point before completion of seven days.
The protocol stated that the police will do physical checks to verify the visit of Myanmar nationals as per the details provided in the border pass and anyone violating the conditions will face legal action.
Eight pilot entry and exit points will be made functional immediately on stabilisation of software and deployment of staff. Another 14 entry points will be activated on procurement and installation of biometric machines and the remaining 21 points after putting in place requisite infrastructure.
