The painful story of "Agent Orange" in Nghi Loc
(Baonghean)- In September 2011, Nghe An Newspaper published a series of investigative articles on the situation of "running" for support policies for victims of Agent Orange, which mentioned the implementation of policies and the situation of Agent Orange "brokers" in Nghi Loc district. However, currently, the implementation of support policies for victims of Agent Orange in Nghi Loc still causes public outrage.
People are dissatisfied
In Nghi Quang commune, we were told by the people about the cases that were not qualified, but still received the Agent Orange regime such as: Ms. Nguyen Thi C, Ms. Pham Thi T (joined the army in 1968, stationed in Nghi Loc from the day of leaving until demobilization); Mr. Vo Si N (enlisted in 1963, border police, stationed in Lach Quen - Quynh Luu, demobilized until 1970); Mr. Tran Duc T (enlisted in 1963, stationed in Nam Anh commune, Nam Dan until retirement); Mr. Nguyen Hong N (enlisted in May 1972, trained new recruits at Group 22 - Military Region 4, when the unit went to the South, Mr. N transferred to a new unit and stationed in Hanoi until demobilization in October 1975); Mr. Nguyen Duc N (enlisted in December 1972, trained at Group 22 - Military Region 4, then transferred to work at Regiment 249, Engineers stationed in Thanh Chuong district, then to the Navy Command, worked in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh).
These cases are not eligible for the support regime for victims of Agent Orange because they are only stationed from Quang Binh and beyond. Some of them did not go to the battlefield, but their records have all been used to B and are now eligible for the support regime for victims of Agent Orange. Meanwhile, also in Nghi Quang commune, there are heartbreaking cases such as Mr. Vo Trung Tao and Mr. Le Xuan Dinh, both of whom have children with disabilities and difficult circumstances. Their records have been completed with all valid documents and sent at the same time as the cases that have been eligible, but have not yet been approved.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc and Mr. Vo Trung Tao hope youAuthorities should soon clarify the cases.not worthy of the regime.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc (Thanh Vinh 2 hamlet - Nghi Quang commune) - indignantly said: "Someone said I was entitled to the regime (Mr. Duc was entitled to the war invalid and Agent Orange regime), so be quiet. But I said this to speak for my comrades and demand justice. Why are those stationed in the North also entitled to the regime, while those who went to the battlefield who deserved to enjoy it are not entitled to it"! Mr. Duc also said that he had previously complained to Nghi Quang commune, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghi Loc district about these cases and questioned the leaders of Nghi Quang commune, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of the district, but the authorities have not yet taken any action. Mr. Duc assured that if he falsely denounced these cases, he would take full responsibility before the law, but during that questioning, Mr. Vo Van Ba (Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghi Loc district) affirmed to Mr. Duc that the records of the above cases were valid (?). In Nghi Thiet commune, people were also very indignant and pointed out a number of cases such as Mr. Nguyen Gia T, Ms. Hoang Thi P, Mr. Vu Huu Q, Mr. Nguyen Van V... who were all stationed from Quang Binh and above but also received Agent Orange benefits.
We met Mr. Vo Van Ba - (Deputy Head of Nghi Loc Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) to ask about the cases of people reporting that they were not eligible for the support regime for Agent Orange victims, but were still entitled to it, Mr. Ba said: According to him, the records of these cases are complete and valid. We asked if we could distinguish between real and fake records when reviewing the records, Mr. Ba said that if the records were complete, they would be approved and sent to higher levels, but how could we know if the records were real or fake (?). When we asked about the data and the implementation of the Agent Orange policy regime in Nghi Loc in recent years, Mr. Ba made an appointment for a later time because his staff was currently away?!
Agent Orange brokers still rampant
When we contacted the complainants, they said that the cases that were not eligible for the support regime but still had their applications processed and approved were thanks to the "brokers" and the "network" that processed the applications (?!). We also learned that, in addition to the "brokers" Nguyen Van M. (Nghi Lam), Minh Q. (Nghi Van) that we mentioned in the series of articles published in September 2011, in Nghi Loc there are also "brokers" N. (Nghi Khanh), "broker" Tr. (Nghi Hop) who are still operating.
Posing as people who "made" Agent Orange documents, we approached and asked Mr. D (who had served in the army with Mr. Tr.) to introduce us to "broker" Tr. Mr. D said that "broker" Tr. had been imprisoned for 6 years for fraud and making fake documents, and now still accepts to make documents to run all kinds of regimes.
When Mr. D called "broker" Tr. to say that a few people needed help with paperwork. Mr. Tr. said that if there was anything, he would come to his house at night, calling over the phone was not convenient. Although introduced through Mr. D, when we came to his house (in Nghi Hop commune), Mr. Tr. still appeared wary of strangers. After a while of chatting, "broker" Tr. agreed to "help" us and asked what paperwork we needed. When we did it, what paperwork would we have at home so he could look at it, and if anything was missing, he would supplement it. We said we were doing it for the Agent Orange regime. Mr. Tr. said: Being a war invalid is a bit difficult, but as for Agent Orange, as long as you come back from the army, you can do it! Mr. Tr. and his wife said that they had "helped" hundreds of people in the districts with paperwork and they had all received benefits!
While talking, Mr. Tr. boasted that he had an acquaintance who worked in the policy department above, so if he was missing any documents, he would "help" him get them. Mr. Tr. also said: "Some people cannot go for months, but I only need to go for one meal. If they have not been to the hospital, they have to make a medical record. If they know the way, they will be able to do it. If I told them, they will do it. If a stranger gave them hundreds or millions of dong, they would not dare to do it. If they are stuck, they will solve the problem to get the records. Once they have the records, it is simple. If they do not know each other, they will ask for medical records from 2008-2009 or earlier, but for me, medical records can still be done now. Whenever they do it, I will give them the records and photocopy them into 6 sets." After leaving, Mr. Tr. still cautiously said that it was best to tell Mr. D (the person who called to introduce us to Mr. Tr - PV) to bring them here.
Talking to us, Mr. D said that usually making a complete set of documents costs 10 million VND, when starting to do it, you have to pay the "broker" 3 million VND in advance. Making additional documents for the file costs about 1.5 million VND each. Because this cost is not equal to the amount of 1 year of support, many people have invested in "running", because it is "still profitable"!
It seems that the story of negative consequences related to the settlement of support policies for Agent Orange victims in Nghi Loc has not ended yet. The authorities need to quickly clarify the cases that have enjoyed policies that the people do not agree with, in order to bring this humanitarian policy back to its true, noble, and humane meaning.
Duc Chuyen - Dam Phuong
.png "Báo và phát thanh, truyền hình Nghệ An xếp thứ 2 toàn quốc trong hệ thống báo Đảng địa phương về lượt truy cập tháng 9/2025")
