Free Movement Regime:
Manipur Chief Minister recently said that his government has urged the Union Home Ministry to cancel the free movement regime along the India-Myanmar border and complete its fencing.
- Under the FMR, all the hill tribes, whether they are citizens of India or Myanmar, can travel within 16 km on either side of the Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB).
- They can cross the border by producing a border pass with a one-year validity issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit.
- The FMR was implemented in 2018 as part of the Central government’s Act East policy.
- FMR is implemented by both governments for the people living along the IMB.
- This helps locals to get more culturally assimilated with trans-border villages through weddings, celebrating common festivals together and trans-border trade.
- It is a reflection of the physical, ethnic, linguistic, cultural and fraternal linkages among the trans-border villagers.
Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB):
- It runs for 1,643 km in the four states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- It runs from the tripoint with China in the north to the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south.
- Assam Rifles is tasked with guarding the IMB.
