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 IndiaMyanmar 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 ”as 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