Officials detain US couple at Lengpui, deport them over permit breach
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Aizawl: Officials of the intelligence agency under the ministry of home affairs (MHA) identified a married American couple at the Lengpui airport near Aizawl and detained them before deporting them to the US on Saturday, official sources said on Sunday.
The American couple, identified as Walter Frederick Kuhn and Sahron Clodfelter Kuhn, landed at Lengpui airport without possessing a mandatory Protected Area Permit (PAP) on Friday. The intelligence officials, who had prior information about their arrival, detained them.
While the officials said the Kuhns are not known to have any connection with rebel groups, some other intelligence agencies alleged that they entered Mizoram to meet founder leader of the
Kuki-Chin National Army
(KNA). The KNA is an insurgent group based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, fighting for the autonomy of ethnic Mizos, mainly belonging to Bawm tribe, who live in the CHT.
The KNA founder leader is Nathan Hlawncheu Bawm, who is reported to be in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar.
"We do not have any information about the couple's links with Nathan Hlawncheu Bawm or any other KNA leaders. We detained and deported them due to the fact that they entered the state where Protected Area Regime (PAR) is in place and for not obtaining PAP from the MHA, which is mandatory for foreigners visiting the state," an intelligence official told TOI.
Nationals of some countries who intend to visit three northeastern states bordering Myanmar — Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland — are required to have PAP according to directions from the MHA.
The MHA had re-imposed the PAR in Dec last year to monitor the movement of foreigners. This came after it was initially relaxed for a year in 2010 in the three states bordering Myanmar, and subsequently, the duration of the order was extended for five years.
The latest order on the regime relaxation was issued on Dec 16, 2022 and was valid till Dec 2027 before it was revoked in Dec 2024.
The relaxation has been withdrawn after 14 years by the MHA which wrote to the chief secretaries of the three states in Dec last year. Since then, foreigners visiting the three northeastern states again have to seek prior permission and special permits from the govt as used to be done before 2010, in accordance with the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958.
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