FREE
MOVEMENT REGIME - INTERNATIONAL
News:
Free Movement Regime to
end at Myanmar border
What's
in the news?
●
The Union government is all set to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR)
along the Myanmar border, a senior government official said on January 2.
●
People
living in border areas, who could cross over to India, will soon require visas,
the official added.
Key
takeaways:
●
India and Myanmar share an unfenced border
and people on either side have familial and ethnic ties, which prompted the
arrangement in the 1970s. It was last revised
in 2016.
●
The official said that around 300 km of the border will be fenced
and a tender will be issued in the next few days. He added that a survey of the
border areas with the help of drones has been completed.
Free
Movement Regime:
●
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).
●
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.
Stay
Period:
●
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.
Significance:
●
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.
Significance:
●
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):
●
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).
●
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.