7,000 Myanmarese entered since Dec with border pass

NEW DELHI, Feb 14
Around 7,000 Myanmar Nationals have entered India since December, when the terms for visa-free movement of tribes residing on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border, were reworked to enable their travel within 10 kms of the border with a ‘border pass’ to be issued after capture of biometrics.
Sources in the security establishment confirmed that the 7,000 arrivals of Myanmar Nationals into India over the past two months have been through 22 of the total 43 border crossing points. The remaining crossing points are still being activated.
The 1,643-km-long Indo-Myanmar border passes through the Indian States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.
Though the Home Ministry was keen to have the Free Movement Regime (FMR) scrapped in view of of the ethnic violence in Manipur having been linked to illegal influx from Myanmar, and had appealed for its suspension until the final decision by Ministry of External Affairs, opposition by States like Mizoram and diplomatic procedures appear to have come in the way. Finally, in December last year, the 16-km limit for visa-free movement of tribes of India and Myanmar was cut to 10 kms and stricter controls like a mandatory border pass, regulation of entry through the designated border points and mandatory capture of biometrics for incoming Myanmar Nationals, were introduced.
As per the revised arrangement, a Myanmar border resident can seek entry with papers secured from his village administration, certifying that he resides within 10 kms of the Indo-Myanmar border. Once this is verified, the visitor is required to submit his biometrics. A border pass is issued to him for the required number of days he intends to stay.
“The biometrics are fed into our database, made accessible to the local police. With the biometrics, we have data of any person who engages in criminal activities while in India or overstays, and the authorities can take suitable action,” said a source.
A senior official said the movement of Myanmar Nationals into the Indian side of the border is largely for the sake of family ties and also driven by demand for basic items like salt etc “freely available on our side”. “A humanitarian approach had to be taken, rather than scrapping FMR altogether,” shared the officer.
TNN