'Border fencing violates UN declaration'
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 20 2013: Even as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peo-ples clearly lay down that prior, informed consent of the indi-genous people should be ob- tained before any development work is taken up at places settled by indigenous people, people settled along Manipur sector of Indo-Myanmar border were not given clear informa-tion about the ongoing border fencing work.

The villagers were made to believe that it was security fencing, not boundary fencing.

Acting on the reports about loss of Manipur's territory on account of the border fencing work, a team of the United NGOs Mission Manipur made a field assessment of the border fencing work and interacted with the affected or likely to be affected villagers.

It is a common occurrence that people settled around international border areas are restricted from cross-border movement and inter-mingling once a political barrier is put up in the form of border fence even though they used to move around and inter-mingle with each other freely before the border fence comes up.

The Indo-Myanmar border fencing (above) and members of United NGOs Mission Manipur during a visit of the border areas

In addition to enduring si-milar problems, people settled in Manipur's territory along the Indo-Myanmar have been left out on the side of Myan-mar together with their ancestral villages on account of the border fence.

It was reported that the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs took up the border fencing work with the primary objectives of checking drug smuggling, cross-border movement of insurgents and illegal immigration.

Talking with the visiting team, Govajang village chief Thangkhopao Kipgen said that they were never given clear information about the border fencing work.

Same was the case in respect of Chavangphai and S Moljol villages, said former joint secretary of Chavang-phai administrative committee Samuel T Lupho.

Although the border fencing work does not affect in- habited areas of Chavangphai and S Moljol, it does affect their village land.

But in case of Govajang, the fence would bifurcate the village right in the middle.

Once the border fence is constructed, 15 houses of the village out of 25 would be left out on the side of Myanmar.

Moreover, many Govajang families would rendered homeless and landless after the no man's land is set aside.

Sensing these possibilities, the Govajang village filed a complaint at the High Court in 2012 consequent upon which the border fencing work is currently kept under suspension at Govajang section.

United NGOs Mission Manipur Women Committee convenor Sobita Mangshatabam said that denial of detail information about the border fencing work to indigenous people violates the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as the UN General Assembly Resolution 61/295 .

She exhorted other affected to go to Court as done by the Govajang village chief.

It has been already reported that Bongyang, Nungkam, Molphei, Kwatha Khunou etc would also affected by the border fencing work.

Even though many of the border disputes and controversies stemmed from the disappearance of BP No 78, the Government never worked to locate the missing BP, lamented Tamil Sangam general secretary KBS Maniam.

The temple now located at Moreh Ward No 2 would be bisected into two when the border fencing reaches BP 77 and this would certainly imply loss of a considerable area of Manipur's territory, Maniam said.