Standing by locals
According to Head of Vinh Nguon Border Post’s Mass Mobilization Team Captain Truong Hoang Khanh, disseminating law to locals is a regular task of the unit’s troops.
Vinh Te and Vinh Nguon are two communes in Chau Doc city. Since they are located near the Vietnam-Cambodia borderline with many rivers, canals, trails, and open paths, during the flood season when the rice is harvested, smugglers usually take advantage of it to illegally transport goods to Vietnam through the border from Cambodia.
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An officer of the An Giang provincial Border Guard Command disseminates national sovereignty and border security protection-related knowledge to teachers and students of Luong The Vinh Secondary School in Tinh Bien town, An Giang province. |
Khanh said that together with disseminating law to locals, the unit has built economic development models and created jobs for them. As a result, many families have escaped poverty. Since their living standards have been improved, bad people could no longer find a pretext to exploit and lure them into doing wrong. Thanks to that, violations have been reduced.
An Giang province shares a border section of about 100km with Takeo and Kandal provinces of Cambodia. Chau Doc and Tinh Bien have been known as "hotspots" for smuggling in the province. However, thanks to the efforts of border guard troops, smuggling cases have decreased significantly compared to previous years.
According to local people, the province’s border guards regularly meet and update them on border security situation, conduct law dissemination, and give assistance to them in difficult situation. These practical care has motivated local residents to join the border guard force’s efforts in maintaining the peace and security in border areas.
Political Commissar of the Border Post of the Tinh Bien International Border Gate Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Phat Anh said that understanding the importance of the border management and protection, the border post’s working teams have closely followed developments of local situation and help people with criminal records, especially households with members participating in smuggling, abetting smuggling be aware of illegal actions and correct their mistakes. As a result, security in the areas has been strictly maintained, crime and illegal border exit and entry cases have significantly decreased.
Fostering law dissemination
The An Giang provincial Border Guard Command, in collaboration with the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, has organized meetings to disseminate knowledge about drug and human trafficking prevention and control to people in Vinh Gia commune, Tri Ton district.
During the event, more than 100 local officials, students, and people attentively listened to and enthusiastically asked orators for more information. Nguyen Van Buong, a local resident in Vinh Gia commune, said that through the meeting, local people realized that covering up for or assisting offenders is a wrong act and denounced criminals, especially those involved in illegal immigration and drug crimes.
Although border guards make the key force in building, managing, and firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and border security and building the whole people's border defense posture, the fact proves that the mission requires the participation and contribution of many forces and local people. Over the past time, border guard units, military, police and customs forces of An Giang province have well coordinated to create a solid foundation in maintaining peace along the border. Since 2023, the forces have coordinated to conduct more than 3,000 patrols and promptly exchanged information, contributing to detecting and handling violations in a timely and effective manner.
To effectively put law into life, Political Commissar of the An Giang provincial Border Guard Command Colonel Nguyen Van Hiep said that over the past years, the party committee of the unit and five border localities of Chau Doc, Tan Chau, Tinh Bien, An Phu, and Tri Ton have jointly implemented the regulation on coordination in leading border work and building the provincial border guard force and directed the party committees of 11 border posts to effectively implement the coordination regulations with 18 border communes, wards, and towns.
According to Col. Hiep, the most effective model is the “All people participate in protecting the territorial sovereignty, national border security in the new situation movement.” The effective implementation of the movement has contributed to promoting the strength of the entire people in managing and protecting the national border. The provincial border guard command has coordinated with the party committees, local authorities, departments, and organizations of border localities to mobilize resources for socio-economic development. Many programs launched by the border guard force, such as “Border guards join hands to build new-style rural areas,” “Accompanying women in border areas,” “Paving the way to school for children – Border posts’ foster children” have contributed to making positive changes in locals’ living standards.
Preventing and handling violations in the border areas has never been an easy task. In the battle, the An Giang provincial Border Guard Command has received strong support from local people, agencies, sectors, and units. The proof is that many illegal border crossings and smuggling cases have been detected, prevented, and handled in a timely manner thanks to locals’ information.
Translated by Tran Hoai