Mizoram To Restrict Entry Of Burmese Nationals

People entering from Burma into Mizoram state in northeast India are being screened by Mizoram authorities. Entry will be granted up to 16 kilometers of the Indo–Burma border.
The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper reported on 13 June that the mizoram government worried over the unending influx of Burmese nationals across the Indo-Burma border into Mizoram, has been told by the Centre to restrict entry of people within a 16 kilometers radius of the border areas.
New Delhi has issued an alert to Aizawl because the Union Home Ministry is alarmed over unchecked infiltration of Burmese nationals, particularly Chins and Burmese Mizos, into Mizoram in search of jobs and to escape the junta’s oppression.
The newspaper added that the Indian central government has relaxed the norms for the movement of Burmese nationals up to a radius of 16 kilometers from the international border with Mizoram, to enable the people of both countries to trade in local produce, particularly food and edibles.
Recently, India’s central authority notified the Mizoram government that if any Burmese national intends to travel beyond the limit of the radius, he or she will have to obtain permission from the Centre.
And the Centre has directed the Mizoram police and the Central Intelligence Department to instruct the Mizoram State Foreigners’ Registration officer to check travel permits of nationals from the neighboring country.
Sources in the Young Mizo Association, the biggest NGO in Mizoram estimates that Burmese nationals mostly Chins and Mizos are being hosted by Mizo people in Mizoram because of the similar cultural and historic background.
Traders from Burma will be affected if the Mizoram authorities restrict entry to only 16 kilometers from the Indo-Burma border to Mizoram. - Khonumthung News