Government weighs options to manage India-Myanmar free movement

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Manipur brought back the focus on the free movement regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border, an earlier effort in the context of Nagaland could provide insights into ways to regulate this six decades old pact with Myanmar. The Nagaland administration in 2019-20 introduced legal provisions and ways to strengthen FMR after its reported misuse.

FMR allows communities on both sides to stay up to 72 hours, with valid permits, on either side on production of a border pass (one-year validity) issued by competent authorities.Nagaland Police had suggested compiling a list of people having cultivable land, property and relations on the Myanmar side for better implementation of FMR, said officials. «There is a lack of awareness among locals on how FMR operates, to whom it is applicable and who is exempted under what conditions.

This needs to be defined accurately,» said an official who was part of the 2019-20 study. The official said: «Ambiguity and uncertainty has posed problems, which has caused fear among border residents that their traditional rights will be unfairly curtailed or they will not be able to communicate with their relatives across the border or cannot access their livestock and cattle.

To allay fears and anxieties, awareness about FMR is the best option, if not the only option. The two countries will have to put in place and implement a bilaterally agreed border regime.» Another official said a better coordination mechanism is being worked out for collaboration between central and state agencies.

Mizoram and Manipur governments have so far identified more than 37,000 migrants who have been put in negative lists for Aadhaar and voter cards, the official said. Influx of illegal migrants started after the 2021