Mizoram CM urges Centre to uphold free movement regime with Myanmar amid border fencing concerns

Mizoram CM urges Centre to uphold free movement regime with Myanmar amid border fencing concerns

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma said that he expects that the central government would uphold the existing Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar.

He conveyed that he had personally raised this concern with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them not to revoke the FMR.

This comes after the Mizoram Assembly passed a resolution on February 28 opposing the Centre’s decisions regarding the India-Myanmar border fencing and the abolition of the FMR.

The meeting, attended by leaders of the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO), discussed plans for peaceful rallies along the India-Myanmar border on May 16. ZORO, headquartered in Aizawl and advocating for the reunification of Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes across India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, aims to protest against the border fencing and FMR revocation.

With Mizoram sharing a 510-km-long border with Myanmar’s Chin state and ethnic ties between the Mizos and Chins, the issue holds significant importance. The ongoing situation has led to over 34,000 individuals seeking refuge in various parts of Mizoram since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021.

The Mizoram government, along with civil society organisations and student bodies, strongly opposes the Centre’s plans, fearing adverse impacts on the close ties between ethnic communities of both nations.