Nghe An: Collecting opinions on the draft Law on Vietnam Border Guard

On the afternoon of May 12, the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province coordinated with the Provincial Border Guard Command to organize a conference to collect comments on the draft Law on Vietnam Border Guard, to be submitted to the 14th National Assembly at the 9th session.

Comrades of the Provincial Party Committee: Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Colonel Tran Hai Binh - Commander of the Provincial Border Guard and comrade Tran Van Mao - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation co-chaired.Photo: Thanh Duy

The draft Law on Vietnam Border Guard consists of 7 chapters and 33 articles. Based on the three policies identified and the impact assessment of the draft Law on Vietnam Border Guard unanimously approved by the Government and the National Assembly: clearly defining border guard tasks; legalizing regulations on the form of border management and protection by the Border Guard; standardizing and regulating the tasks and powers of the force performing border guard tasks, the draft Law stipulates the following basic contents:

Border guard tasks, forces and coordination in implementing border guard tasks, focusing on clarifying a number of important issues including:

Stipulate border defense tasks, principles for implementing border defense tasks, basic contents of the all-people border defense foundation, all-people border defense posture on the basis of institutionalizing the goals, viewpoints, and mottos of the National Border Protection Strategy.

Prescribe the scope, principles, and contents of coordination between forces performing border defense tasks; at the same time, assign the Government to prescribe the mechanism for coordination in performing border defense tasks.

Major General Nguyen Canh Hien - former Deputy Commander of the Border Guard spoke at the conference. Photo: Thanh Duy

In addition, the draft Law also provides regulations on principles, contents and forms of international cooperation on border defense; supplements functions, some tasks and powers of the Border Guard in accordance with the current situation and practical requirements; stipulates forms and measures for border management and protection;...

At the meeting, there were 15 comments, all of which agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Vietnam Border Law, and at the same time assessed that the draft law's content was broad and concise, serving as a basis for implementing border guard tasks.

Basically agreeing with the draft, delegates' opinions all hope that when the Vietnam Border Law is promulgated, it will be compatible with related laws because, according to the assessment, this draft law has an impact and is directly related to 12 other laws.

Comrade Nguyen Thanh Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation concluded the conference. Photo: Thanh Duy

Delegates also proposed some adjustments in the content such as: scope; border task implementation issues; policies and regimes specifically for Border Guards; and additional explanations and terminology to clarify the tasks and responsibilities of relevant organizations, levels and sectors.

Concluding the conference, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province Nguyen Thanh Hien assessed that with the spirit of urgent and responsible work, the delegates had many enthusiastic opinions contributing to the draft law.

Border guards of Nhon Mai Station and people of Tuong Duong patrol the border markers. Photo: Archive.

However, this is only the initial stage. To build a law that meets border protection tasks in the new situation, it is necessary to continue to seek comments, especially from border protection forces at the grassroots level.

The provincial National Assembly delegation fully accepts the opinions and is responsible, together with the provincial Border Guard, to contribute responsibly and most effectively to the draft law.