End of Free Movement Regime: GoI loses a crucial element in its Act East policy

What will be the timeframe for the Myanmar fencing and what will we do until then? What are the costs?

For Manipur, 2024 started much the same way that 2023 ended: with violence. On January 4, crucial news broke: quoting officials, it was reported that the Free Movement Regime was to come to an end. This was perhaps, administratively speaking, the biggest step that the Centre had taken, months after violence wreaked havoc in Manipur, in an attempt to finally address the issues at hand.

Key Meitei Demand

No sooner did the news break that Naga and Mizo groups rose up in protest, alleging that the Central government had heeded the Manipur CM N Biren Singh, who, even before the violence began, had never been a fan of the FMR and had repeatedly argued for fencing the Indo-Myanmar border. Now, it must be noted that while the present FMR was last revised in 2016, some form of FMR has always existed at the Indo-Myanmar border, since people on both sides of the border have familial and ethnic ties. That aside, Manipur had suspended FMR in 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet, could not stop refugees fleeing the conflict in Myanmar.

But let us return to 2024. In January, when Imphal Valley-based legislators were ‘summoned’ by radical outfit Arambai Tenggol, the two biggest demands raised were the end of FMR and the end of Suspension of Operation Agreements with Kuki insurgent outfits. The Meitei leaders of Manipur have repeatedly blamed the ‘free’ border movement as the main cause of violence in Manipur and have time and again urged the Centre to act upon the same.

In fact, confirmation of the end of FMR came just days after N Biren Singh met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.  This perhaps explains why Singh hailed Shah’s decision. Not to be left behind, Arunachal CM also supported the decision to end FMR as a step towards strengthening India’s internal security. HM Shah has also announced that India is fencing the border with Myanmar.

Mizoram and Nagaland have, of course, reacted very differently from Manipur and Arunachal. While Nagaland CM Rio also said they were against the end of FMR, Mizoram CM said it was an unacceptable decision. That said, the new CM seems uninterested in picking a fight with the Centre, which explains why he also added, a few weeks later, that they cannot stop the Centre from fencing.

Is FMR A Free Pass To India?

One must understand that the congratulatory messages being issued to the Centre over scrapping of the FMR seem misplaced. One must not forget that the FMR came into shape under this very government at the Centre in 2016, so unlike several issues, here, the BJP cannot simply wash its hands and blame the Congress.

Then, there is the FMR itself: it only allowed Myanmar residents to travel 16 km into Indian territory and for up to 72 hours. Indians, as this writer found out on visiting Moreh in 2016, could only stay up to 24 hours in Myanmar. It was not a free-for-all system and it goes without saying that the usual checks and balances apply in these border regions too.

It also must not be forgotten that Mizoram has maintained extensive records of migrants from Myanmar, which is why we know that the state is currently sheltering some 31,000 Chin people who fled the civil war in Myanmar.

One particularly feels for Nagaland which has not been “flooded” with refugees from Myanmar unlike Mizoram and they are not fighting a civil war like Manipur.

The Naga Self-Administered Zone (NSAZ) has remained largely peaceful during the entire Myanmar coup and if anything, the FMR, as this story we published in February 2023 showed, has allowed residents of perhaps the most backward region in the Northeast (and that is saying something) to assist each other on both sides of the border. For a transborder community like Khiamniungan Nagas, the end to FMR and the sealing of the border is no less than a death knell.

Further, the end of FMR and the sealing of the border contradicts Article 36 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007
(UNDRIP), a declaration to which India is a signatory.

India-Bangladesh Border Fencing Precedent

Also, let us not forget: while we love new orders, decisions and talks of strengthening India’s security, we avoid real conversations on issues. India has been fencing the India-Bangladesh border for decades now. Is that complete? No. Has that stopped illegal immigration? We do not even have data on it.

What will be the timeframe for the Myanmar fencing and what will we do until then? What are the costs? The Bangladesh border and the costs involved hardly make for a fair comparison, since almost the entire India-Myanmar border is hilly.

Once considered a crucial part of the Act East Policy, the end of the Free Movement Regime was waiting to happen ever since the abject failure to put an end to the violence in Manipur.

Amit Kumar is executive editor of Eastmojo.com, a North-East-based news portal. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.