New Delhi: After Union home minister Amit Shah scrapped the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar, Kuki-Zo groups have expressed their disappointment over the decision.
The FMR allowed tribes along the border to travel up to 16 kilometre inside the other country without a visa.
According to government data, Myanmar shares a land border of over 1,600 km with India. On these boundaries, the Centre has already started the fencing work.
In a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, on February 7, the Kuki-Zo community said that the people living outside the boundaries share the same ethnicity. This was the fifth meeting between the MHA and the community.
“We have relatives living there [on the other side of the border], and they have relatives living here [in India]. We are very disappointed with what the Central government has done with us,” Ginza Vualzong, Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) spokesperson, said.
He added that these issues were raised with MHA official A.K. Mishra on February 7.
However, a day later, Shah, on X (formerly Twitter), announced that the Centre has decided to end the Free Movement Regime in Manipur.
