Firmly protect national sovereignty and border security

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Quyet Thang - Deputy Commander - Chief of Staff of the Provincial Border Guard. Photo by Thanh Cuong

PV:Could you please tell us the highlights of the Vietnam Border Law recently passed by the National Assembly?

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Quyet Thang:The Vietnam Border Law has 6 chapters and 36 articles regulating policies, principles, tasks, activities, forces, guarantees and responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals regarding border protection... effective from January 1, 2022. The Law has the following highlights:

The first,The Vietnam Border Guard Law has a broader scope of regulation than the Border Guard Ordinance. Specifically, this Law stipulates policies, principles, tasks, activities, forces, guarantees and responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals regarding border defense. The Border Guard Ordinance only stipulates the functions and tasks of the Border Guard, while the Vietnam Border Guard Law stipulates the tasks of specialized forces and core forces in border management and protection. The Law also defines "Border Guard" as: the totality of activities and measures to protect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland and ensure security, order and social safety in border areas with the combined strength of the entire nation". This concept is the fundamental issue that determines the content structure and layout of the Law.

Monday,The State's policy on Border Defense aims to fully institutionalize domestic and foreign policies and the consistent viewpoints of the Party and State on protecting national borders, while acknowledging major policies to build and mobilize all aspects of the country's potential, strengthen national defense and security to firmly protect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, as a basis for building specific policies.

Tuesday,The Law on Border Guards of Vietnam only stipulates general tasks for agencies, organizations and individuals in performing border guard duties without specifying specific tasks for each force. These agencies, organizations and individuals are obliged to perform border guard duties based on the following principles: (1) Comply with the Constitution, laws of Vietnam and international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member; respect the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national borders of other countries. (2) Place under the absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the centralized and unified management of the State. (3) Promote the combined strength of the entire people and the political system, rely on the People and be supervised by the People. (4) Combine national defense and security with socio-economics and socio-economics with national defense and security; Combine border defense tasks with building and consolidating the political system, developing the economy, culture, society and foreign affairs in border areas.

Border defense tasks are the common responsibility of the political system and the whole society. The Law stipulates the responsibilities, regimes and policies of agencies, organizations and citizens participating, coordinating, collaborating and assisting the force in performing border defense tasks. It is necessary to pay attention to the provisions on citizens' responsibilities regarding border defense, specifically: "Citizens in border areas have the responsibility to participate in building a national border defense, a national border defense posture and movements to protect national sovereignty, territory and borders, maintain security, order and social safety in border areas and border gates".

Wednesday,The Vietnam Border Law has introduced the concept of two important terms: "people's border defense" and "people's border defense posture". Before the Vietnam Border Law, some regulations on people's border defense and people's border defense posture had not been legalized, only the principled regulations on policies, principles and contents were stipulated in the 2003 National Border Law. Therefore, the Vietnam Border Law has stipulated the basic contents of people's border defense and people's border defense posture on the basis of institutionalizing the goals, viewpoints and mottos of the National Border Protection Strategy.

Thursday,The law stipulates: “The Border Guard is a people's armed force, a component of the Vietnam People's Army, and is the core force, specialized in managing and protecting the national border and border areas”. The law stipulates that the Border Guard takes the lead and coordinates with agencies and organizations to maintain security, order and social safety in border areas and border gates according to the provisions of law. The Border Guard performs tasks and powers in each field and scope in communes, wards and towns adjacent to the national border on land, at sea and at border gates managed by the Ministry of National Defense as determined in international treaties and provisions of Vietnamese law, without overlapping with the tasks of other forces operating in border areas and border gates.

Friday,The forms of border management and protection and the authority to convert these forms are stipulated, including: Regular border protection management; Enhanced border protection management; Border protection management in a state of national defense emergency, martial law, curfew, and war, implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on national defense. The law only stipulates the cases of applying the regular and enhanced border management and protection forms of the Border Guard, while the specific content is assigned to the Minister of National Defense to specify in detail.

Tam Hop Border Guard Station coordinates with Border Guard Company 251 - Laos to conduct bilateral patrols. Photo: Hai Thuong

Saturday,The Vietnam Border Law stipulates ensuring issues of human resources, finance, and assets to serve border issues and a number of priority subjects, specifically as follows:

Ensuring human resources: The State has a plan to select, train and develop human resources for the force performing border defense tasks; priority is given to residents in border areas. Border Guard officers and soldiers are trained, coached and developed with necessary knowledge and skills appropriate to their assigned functions, tasks and powers. The State gives priority and encourages ethnic minorities in border areas and talented people to serve long-term in the Border Guard.

Ensuring financial resources: The State ensures the budget and mobilizes financial resources for border protection tasks according to the provisions of law; prioritizes the construction of infrastructure, border works, border gates and the building of core, specialized forces to perform border protection tasks.

Asset security: The State ensures assets for border protection tasks according to the provisions of law; priority is given to agencies and units in remote, isolated, and particularly disadvantaged areas of the border area. Depending on the nature of the work and the area of ​​operation, the border protection task force in the border area and the Border Guard officers and soldiers are entitled to preferential regimes and policies according to the provisions of law.

Mon Son Border Guard Station soldiers patrol the Giang River. Photo: Le Quang Dung

PV:What is the significance of the birth of the Vietnam Border Law in the implementation of the task of managing and protecting the border security sovereignty of the Border Guard force, sir?

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Quyet Thang:The first,The promulgation of the Vietnam Border Law demonstrates the high determination of the National Assembly and the Government in promptly institutionalizing the Party's will and the people's aspirations in activities to protect the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland and ensure security, order, and social safety in border areas.

Monday,The promulgation of the Vietnam Border Law has supplemented and completed the legal basis in a complete manner, with the highest legal value in the field of border defense, including the State's policies on border defense; defining the functions, tasks and powers of the Border Guard; ensuring border defense and the regime and policies for the force performing border defense tasks.

Tuesday,The Vietnam Border Law has important significance in international cooperation activities on border defense, border diplomacy, people's diplomacy, building a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and developed border, long-term stability, especially in establishing and developing border relations; negotiating and resolving issues and incidents related to borders, border gates, border patrol, crime prevention, law violations...

Wednesday,The Vietnam Border Law reflects the consistent idea that border protection is the responsibility of all people and the entire political system, in which the people are the main subjects, the armed forces are the core, and the Border Guard force is the core specialist.

Thursday,The promulgation of the Vietnam Border Law has great spiritual value, creating peace of mind, excitement, and encouragement for all officers and soldiers of the Border Guard and agencies, organizations, and units of the People's Armed Forces in border areas and border gates in the process of performing border guard duties, protecting the national border, maintaining security, order, and social safety in border areas and border gates in the new current conditions.

Discussing plans to fight crime. Photo: Hai Thuong

PV:So, could you please tell us what plans the Nghe An Border Guard Command has made to prepare for the implementation of the Vietnam Border Law in the coming time?

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Quyet Thang:Currently, the Vietnam Border Law has been approved by the National Assembly. In order for the Law to soon come into effect, the competent authorities are drafting Decrees and Circulars guiding the implementation of the Law. As a unit implementing the Border Guard task, the Nghe An Provincial Border Guard Command will actively contribute opinions to the draft system of Decrees and Circulars related to the implementation of the Vietnam Border Law to submit to the Government and the Ministry of National Defense for appraisal and promulgation.

On the other hand, based on the contents of the Vietnam Border Law, based on the annual education and training program of the superiors, the Provincial Border Guard Command develops a plan to educate and train officers and soldiers in the Provincial Border Guard on the basic contents of the Vietnam Border Law. Directs Border Guard stations to deploy propaganda and education contents, popularize the law to people in the border areas, the areas where the units are stationed, including the contents of the Vietnam Border Law.

In the coming time, the Provincial Border Guard Command will have a plan to advise the Provincial People's Committee to organize a conference to disseminate the contents of the Vietnam Border Law to key officials at the provincial, district, town and city levels; coordinate with districts and towns to organize conferences to disseminate to all officers, soldiers and people in the area.

PV:Thank you very much, comrade!

Border guards patrol and control the forest and sea. Photo: Hai Thuong - KL - Thanh Cuong