The Indian government is now seeking to stop border crossings for the first time, revoking a system that made it legal for Indigenous people to cross freely and threatening to build a border fence that could cut villages like Longwa in two.
Until recently, residents from both sides could travel legally within 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) of the border, but that started to change in February 2024, when the government revoked the Free Movement Regime “to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of India’s North Eastern states bordering Myanmar.”.
The Nagaland state government passed a resolution opposing the end of the Free Movement Regime and plans for border fencing, and on Feb. 3 Longwa residents staged a protest carrying placards with slogans like “Respect Indigenous rights, not colonial legacy!”.
But people from other villages in Myanmar are afraid to travel beyond Longwa to reach schools or medical care, said B. Phohi Konyak, a former local leader of an organization representing Konyak women.
But recently, residents have been worried about another, less visible, local landmark: the border between India and Myanmar, which runs right through the village's center.
