India reinforces security on Myanmar border, blocking trade and refugees

Refugees said they were facing increased hardship in recent weeks after Indian officials tightened security on a route from Paletwa Township in Myanmar’s Chin State, an area currently controlled by the Arakan Army (AA).Since the beginning of the year, members of the Assam Rifles unit have set up three additional checkpoints to inspect the travel permits, identification, and property carried by Myanmar nationals seeking entry to India on a road from the township, according to a Chin State resident displaced from his home near the border. The Indian checkpoints are on a road running between the bank of the Kaladan River and Lawngtlai, a town in the Indian state of Mizoram. The route along the river from Paletwa Township into Mizoram’s Lawngtlai District is important for border trade as well as the movements of displaced people. According to the displaced man from Chin State, Indian authorities conduct the strictest, most thorough inspections on people entering Mizoram from Paletwa Township. “We are anxious. First, there are language barriers, and second, we don't have residence permits. They can arrest or summon us at any time, that’s why we’re concerned,” he said. “It’s very difficult since we don’t understand the language well now. Going to hospitals and clinics has become extremely challenging,” he added. The man also noted that imports from Lawngtlai to Paletwa Township and Rakhine State in Myanmar have dwindled, although it may be due to traders taking an alternative route through Mizoram’s Saiha District. According to another local man in Paletwa Township, security checks have become stricter at the Paletwa-Lawngtlai border since Indian authorities began limiting foreign entry into Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland—three states bordering Myanmar—and revoked a free movement agreement between the two countries. “Whether they're displaced people or traders, if they want to cross to the Indian side, they need approval from their respective village administrators. Without approval, they can’t enter India or transport goods,” the displaced man said. The Paletwa-Lawngtlai route is not an official border crossing staffed by the Indian government, but an informal trade route operated by a mutual understanding between locals of both countries. Recent inspections have halted the flow of goods and may lead to price increases, local news agencies reported, citing traders from Rakhine State. With the Myanmar military regime blockading the shipment of goods into Rakhine State except for the junta-controlled townships of Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung, the Indian border route has become crucial for importing diesel, gasoline, daily food rations, and textiles. Although the Indian side frequently closes the informal trade route, they routinely reopen it later. Goods are currently entering Rakhine State from other parts of Myanmar and Bangladesh via both land and water routes, according to Pe Than, a Rakhine politician and former member of parliament with a constituency in Mrauk-U Township. "When the junta tried to block goods from flowing into Rakhine State as part of their ‘four cuts’ strategy, it was quite effective at first,” he said, referring to the military regime’s methods for weakening anti-junta armed groups by targeting the civilian populations that support them. “Later, people started producing what they could locally. For items that couldn’t be produced locally, traders found their own ways to get them in,” Pe Than added. He went on to note that the AA—Rakhine State’s most powerful ethnic armed group—is helping to facilitate cross-border commerce with neighbouring countries. The AA has held control Paletwa Township, an area crucial for the flow of trade with both India and Bangladesh, for more than a year.

India reinforces security on Myanmar border, blocking trade and refugees

Indian authorities is heavily policing a road intersecting Mizoram’s border with Paletwa Township, Chin State that has served as a vital route to safety for civilians fleeing from violence in Myanmar

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