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Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday, 2 January, said that foreign mercenaries from Myanmar might be involved in the recent attacks on security forces in the border town of Moreh.

Since Saturday, 30 December, at least 10 Manipur police commandos and a Border security Force (BSF) trooper have been injured in different incidents of attacks by suspected militants at

Moreh in Manipur's Tengnoupal district. "Foreign mercenaries from Myanmar might be involved in the attacks on security forces," he told the media, adding, "We have taken

all necessary measures to counter such extremist activities." Since the ethnic conflict started in Manipur on 3 May 2023, Biren Singh has repeatedly put the blame on "illegal

immigration from Myanmar" and drug trafficking, as well as cited "safeguarding" of India's "porous borders" in the northeast, to restore peace. Last year, on 24

September, he even held a meeting with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) about an additional 70 km of border fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border. In the meeting, he had urged the Union

Home Ministry to cancel the free movement regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border. > Held a meeting with the officials of BRO and deliberated the plan to > begin construction of an

 additional 70 km of border fencing along > the Indo-Myanmar border. I was joined by Chief Secretary, DGP & > officials from the Home Department. >  > In view of the rise in 

illegal immigration… > pic.twitter.com/cZWO00k3as > — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) September 24, 2023 According to recent reports now, the Centre has decided to start the tendering

for an advanced smart fencing system for the India-Myanmar border. Talking to the media, a senior official said that people living in border areas, who could cross over to India, will soon

require visas. “We are going to end the FMR along the Indo-Myanmar border soon. We are going to put fencing along the entire border. The fencing will be completed in the next four-and-half

years. Anyone coming through will have to get a visa,” a source told _The Indian Express _on 2 January. THE QUINT explains what exactly the free movement regime is – and what it has to do

with the current crisis. WHAT IS THE FREE MOVEMENT REGIME? India shares a 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar, which runs through the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal

Pradesh. Of the 1,643 km, nearly 390 km lies in Manipur – and only about 10 km of this has been fenced. The free movement regime is a mutually agreed arrangement between the two countries

that allows tribes living along the border on both the sides to travel up to 16 km inside the other country. It allows communities on both sides to stay up to 72 hours, with valid permits,

on either side on production of a border pass (one-year validity) issued by competent authorities. WHEN AND WHY WAS THIS REGIME ESTABLISHED? The regime was implemented in October 2018 in

sync with the Narendra Modi government's 'Act East' policy. As Munmum Majumdar, a professor of political science at the Northeast Hill University, Shillong, elaborated in her

paper titled 'India-Myanmar Border Fencing and India's Act East Policy': > "Historically, Manipur-Myanmar borderland is home to many ethnic > groups, namely, Chin, 

Kuki, Mizo, Nagas, and Tsinphos. Before the > colonial period, these ethnic groups and their homelands were never > annexed or conquered by either India or Myanmar." Myanmar (then

Burma) was separated from the rest of the Indian Empire in 1937, just 10 years before India became an independent country, in 1947. That divided these ethnic communities living along the

Indo-Myanmar border. After the erstwhile independent kingdom of Manipur merged with India in 1949, the India-Burma Boundary Agreement was signed on 10 March 1967, following which a joint

India-Burma Boundary Commission was constituted to work out the modalities. > "The drawing of the borders divided these people living along the > artificially constructed 

borders... The borderland communities found > they were not only divided but also became relegated to the status > of ethnic minorities on both sides of the border," Majumdar 

added. To address the concerns of these ethnic groups and enable greater interaction among them, the Indian and Myanmar governments established the FMR. A research paper highlighted how the

arrangement benefitted people: > "Tamu (a border town situated in Myanmar) looks towards Moreh (a > border town in Manipur) for meeting all its daily necessities. The > 

electric supply comes from Moreh, higher education is sought for in > Moreh. Tamu has two high schools but no college – the nearest is > Moreh College. Tamu has a General Hospital, yet

 healthcare is sought > for in Manipur... critical cases are brought to RIMS, Imphal. The > residents have Indian bank accounts, even Aaadhar cards." SO, WHY IS IT UNDER LENS?

Over the past year ever since violence broke out in Manipur, the FMR has been under scanner. Earlier, in July, an official told _The_ _Economic Times_ that the arrangement between India and

Myanmar was "brought keeping in view traditional social relations among border people. It helps genuine people living in close proximity to the border." However, the official added

that it was being "misused by militants and criminals who smuggle weapons, narcotics, contraband goods and fake Indian currency notes but after the Junta government crackdown on the

Kuki-Chin community in neighbouring Myanmar, it is being used by migrants." Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, over 40,000 refugees are estimated to have taken shelter

in Mizoram, and around 4,000 are said to have entered Manipur, according to _The Indian Express. _A panel set up by the Manipur government to identify such migrants recently pegged their

number at 2,187. Anuradha Oinam, a research assistant at Centre for Land Warfare Studies, wrote in her paper, 'Revisiting FMR: Challenges and Implications', "One of the deadly

implications of FMR is the increasing trend of drug trafficking and illegal arms and weapons import, through the porous border, to Northeast India, by insurgents, criminal gangs, and drug

lords." > In 2023, the Manipur government alleged that village chiefs have > been illegally settling migrants from Myanmar in new villages in the > hills, leading to 

deforestation. An eviction drive against these new > villages is what became the flashpoint between Kukis in the hills > and the government this March, leading to violence in the 

state. In fact, on 2 May, a day before clashes erupted in the state, Biren Singh said at a press conference in Imphal: > "Illegal immigration from Myanmar to Manipur is such that we 

have so > far detained 410 people from that country who have been staying in > the state without proper documents. There is an additional 2,400 of > them seeking shelter in 

detention homes along the border areas… > who have fled Myanmar…" "We have reasons to believe that there must be many more Myanmarese residing illegally in Manipur," he

added. "There is this provision in the FMR that allows tribal people to carry a head load. These head loads are seldom checked and militants and trans-border criminals use this method

to smuggle drugs and weapons, contraband goods and fake Indian currency notes," Majumdar told THE QUINT. As per the data from the Manipur CMO, 500 cases were registered and 625

individuals were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Manipur in 2022. IS SHUTTING DOWN FMR OR FENCING THE BORDER FEASIBLE? As the crisis in Myanmar

escalated and the influx of refugees purportedly spiked, India temporarily suspended the FMR in September 2022. But as the demands to cancel the arrangement altogether are being raised,

experts told THE QUINT that the FMR needs better regulation. Majumdar noted in her paper, "Fencing would be a retrograde step since fencing is seen in this region as a barrier, which

interferes with their lived experience." Apart from the Manipur chief minister indicating additional fencing over the weekend, the Centre had earlier in 2023 announced that the entire

India-Myanmar border would be fenced. On 1 June, Home Minister Amit Shah said fencing had been completed on a 10-km stretch along the Manipur-Myanmar border, and an 80-km-long stretch would

soon be fenced. > "For a permanent solution, the Manipur and Myanmar border will be > sealed," he said. Sources in the security establishment, however, told _The Indian

Express, _"Even with robust patrolling and intelligence, people sneak through, especially when there is no hostility towards the immigrant on our side. FMR or no FMR, it is not an easy

task. And all borders, even the fenced ones, are struggling to deal with drug trafficking." (With inputs from _The Indian Express)_ Published: 25 Sep 2023, 7:44 PM IST