An advanced smart fencing system of 100 kilometres is in the pipeline to strengthen the existing surveillance system, the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs published last week said. The unfenced border and the unregulated migration from Myanmar have been attributed as some of the factors responsible for the ethnic violence in Manipur that has acclaimed the lives of at least 175 people since May 3, 2023.
Details of the Report
The report stated that in 2022, out of the 201 insurgency-related incidents registered in the entire Northeastern Region, as many as 137 incidents were registered in Manipur. According to the report, “Manipur is affected by the activities of Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar insurgent groups.
A total of 23 underground outfits under the conglomerates United People’s Front (UPF-8) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO-15) are under the Suspension of Operation pact with the Government of India since August 2008,” the report said.
The Free Movement Regime
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that a Free-Movement-Regime (FMR) exists between India and Myanmar Under the porous border and FMR, every member of the hill tribes who is either a citizen of India or Myanmar and who is a resident of any area within 16km on either side of the India-Myanmar Border can cross the border on production of a border pass having validity of one year issued by the competent authority and can stay upto two weeks per visit, the report said.
The Manipur government has suspended the FMR since 2020, post-COVID-19 Pandemic. The Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on September 23, 2023, that he had urged the MHA to cancel the FMR along the Myanmar Border and complete its fencing.
India shares a 1,643 km border with Myanmar, which passes through Arunachal Pradesh (520km), Nagaland (215km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510km) Out of the 1,643km, the demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed, the report said. It said the construction of fencing for a border length of 10.023 km at Moreh, Manipur, has been awarded to the BRO (Border Roads Organisation).
Working is in progress, and the 6.812 km fencing has been completed and the total construction is scheduled to be completed by 2023,” the report said.
Fragile Security Situation
The MHA said the terrain, socio-development and historical factors such as language, ethnicity, tribal rivalry, migration, control over local resources and long international porous borders have resulted in a fragile security situation in the northeastern states. This has resulted in violence, extortion and diverse demands by various Indian Insurgent Groups (IIG) which maintain sage havens and camps in neighbouring countries,” it said.
The Assam Rifles (the primary border guarding para-military force on the Northeastern Frontier of India), especially in the Myanmar Border between April to December 2022 and apprehended 128 Myanmar nationals, 330 civilians, and 140 dealers and drug peddlers, the report said.
To curb the illegal and unlawful activities of insurgent groups in the northeastern states, a total of 16 insurgent organisations have been declared unlawful associations or terrorist organisations under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA) 1967. Eight of them are from Manipur.
