Indians living along the border with strife-torn Myanmar protest restrictions on movement

By WASBIR HUSSAIN
Associated Press

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Hundreds of people living in an Indian state bordering Myanmar have protested the Indian government’s decision to scrap a limited free border movement between the countries. India and Myanmar until now had allowed people with ethnic links on both sides to travel up to 10 miles into each other’s territory without travel documents. The protesters in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram state, also rejected New Delhi’s decision to erect a fence along the 1,000-mile India-Myanmar border. India is home to thousands of refugees from Myanmar. Indian officials in November estimated that thousands had entered northeastern states in India to flee heavy fighting in Myanmar’s western Chin state.