Mizoram civil societies urge Centre to reconsider its decision to scrap FRM and fence Indo-Myanmar border

Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC) on Tuesday urged the Centre to reconsider its decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar and fence the Indo-Myanmar border. In a memorandum sent to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, NGOCC, a conglomerate of major civil society organisations and student bodies, including Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA) and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), expressed concern about the Centre decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and abolish the FMR. “Being one of the signatories of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), 2007, we believe that our country (India) would have taken measures to assert the rights of indigenous peoples who are divided by international border, as stated in Article 36 of UNDRIP. But we are astonished by the Govt. of India’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime( FMR) as well as its attempt to fence the border instead of maintaining and developing relations between the peoples living on both sides of the border,” the memorandum said.

The memorandum  claimed that the FMR has been a crucial mechanism in maintaining ethnic and cultural linkages between the Mizo people residing on both sides of the border and the proposed abolition of the FMR and  border fencing would have a detrimental effect on the vital ethnic and cultural connections between the Mizo communities.The NGOCC expressed concerns that such measures could disrupt the harmonious coexistence and cultural exchange that has been integral to the lives of the Mizo people. Mizos share ethnic ties with the Chin people in Myanmar. Shah had recently said that the Centre has decided to construct a fence  along Indo-Myanmar border and review the FMR.

In his meeting with Shah in Delhi last week, Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma had urged the Union Home Minister to exempt fencing the Indo-Myanmar border on Mizoram side even if Manipur side is done. Four Indian states- Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share  1,643 kms long international border with Myanmar.The FMR allows people living on both sides of the border to travel within 16 kms of each other territory without a visa.