• The violent clashes in Manipur have put the spotlight back on the free movement regime between India and Myanmar.

• India and Myanmar have a Free Movement Regime (FMR) in place. This has been temporarily suspended by the Manipur government due to the ongoing violence in the state.

• Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

• Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. The tribal Nagas and the Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

• Chins, who share ethnic ties with Kukis of Manipur, reside on the Myanmar side.

• India shares a 1,643 km long border with Myanmar which passes through the states of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km).

• The construction of fencing for a border length of 10.023 km at Moreh, Manipur has been awarded to Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Work is in progress and scheduled to be completed this year.

Illegal influx

• The Manipur government has said that at least 718 Myanmar nationals, including 301 children, have illegally entered the northeastern state in the third week of July.

• The illegal influx was reported on July 22 and 23 in Chandel district by Assam Rifles, the India-Myanmar border guarding force.

• The state government has informed the Assam Rifles, as border guarding force, to take strict action to prevent entry of Myanmar nationals into Manipur without valid travel documents as per instructions of Union home ministry.

• The Union home ministry has instructed to complete the campaign for biometric capture of illegal Myanmar immigrants in Manipur by September. 

Free Movement Regime

• A committee was constituted in the ministry of home affairs to streamline implementation of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) within 16 km of Indo-Myanmar Border. 

• The committee was inter-alia tasked to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and uniform guidelines on FMR for all stakeholders so that inimical elements, criminals, contrabands, etc are filtered at the border without causing inconvenience to genuine people.

• Under the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar, every member of the hill tribes, who is either a citizen of India or a citizen of Myanmar and who is resident of any area within 16 km on either side of Indo-Myanmar border can cross the border on production of a border pass (one year validity) issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store