Trust and responsibility on the shoulders of the "green uniform" soldier

(Baonghean) - Nghe An is the largest province in the country, with complex terrain and a diverse ethnic composition, so maintaining social order and security, national defense and security is one of the top important tasks for the construction and development process. In particular, the border guards are the force that has made great contributions to ensuring national defense and security in general, and border security in particular.

With a 419.5 km long national land border, bordering 3 provinces of Lao PDR, the length of the border in Nghe An accounts for nearly 1/4 of the length of the Vietnam - Laos border. The border between Nghe An and the neighboring provinces is determined by 116 border markers and 44 markers. In particular, there is 1 international border gate (Nam Can - Ky Son); 1 main border gate (Thanh Thuy - Thanh Chuong); 3 secondary border gates; 3 border openings; 12 border crossing points allowing residents of the 2 border areas to visit relatives and exchange goods.

Keep the border peaceful

Along the border, the system of border gates, openings, and border crossing points is spread over a relatively large area (6 districts, 27 communes, total population of 112,116 people). The border security situation is complicated, there are still violations of regulations on export, import, transit; export and import of goods. In particular, criminal activities such as illegal trading and transportation of prohibited substances, weapons, explosives, etc. across the border are more difficult to control in a large area, with complex natural and population characteristics.

Officers and soldiers of My Ly Border Guard Station (Ky Son) and the commune militia patrol to protect the border. Photo: Tran Hai

In that situation, the main task for the border guards is to perform well the work of border management and inspection, especially at land border gates, openings, and crossing points. Due to the level of awareness and the characteristics of customs and lifestyles of many ethnic minorities, some bad elements have incited, enticed, and incited, negatively affecting the thinking and awareness of the people.

Among the many achievements of Nghe An Border Guard, there are projects to destroy drug, human trafficking, illegal arms trafficking rings... bringing peace to the border area and contributing to ensuring social order and security. From 2010 to 2015, the Provincial Border Guard arrested 2,355 subjects/1,501 cases with the following evidence: 52.5 kg of heroin; 21 kg of marijuana; 2 kg of crystal meth; 1,156 kg of opium; 24,253 synthetic drug pills; 41 kg of opium plants and fruits; 4 military guns; 74 bullets;... Notably, in May 2014, the Drug Crime Prevention Department and Thong Thu Border Guard Station coordinated with the Sam To District Police (Hua Phan, Laos) to complete two special projects "331LV" and "332LV", destroying two of the largest drug trafficking rings ever in Sam To and Hua Phan.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Ngoc Manh, Deputy Head of the Drug Crime Prevention Department (Nghe An Border Guard), the solution proposed by Nghe An Border Guard is to strengthen the grasp of the local situation, promote propaganda and mobilization of people about the harmful effects of drugs in villages and schools. At the same time, closely coordinate with local Party committees and authorities to manage and control the situation in the area; closely coordinate with functional forces in Laos to completely destroy the lines, gangs, and production, storage and transnational trafficking locations.

One of the "hot spots" of illegal migration in Ky Son is Huoi Tu commune. According to statistics from 2010 to present, the commune has 42 households, 245 people migrating to Laos by unofficial routes or on occasions when there are border markets where people can freely cross and trade. The main reason for illegal migration to Laos is due to difficult economic life, unfavorable climate and terrain conditions. Previously, with the custom of shifting cultivation, the mountainous people mainly relied on natural land and forest resources. However, when being propagandized and encouraged to settle down, not to burn forests for farming, the level of cultivation is limited, so the yield is poor, or there are not favorable conditions for product consumption, so life is still difficult. Specifically, in Huoi Tu, the average income per capita is less than 400 thousand VND/month; 11/13 villages have not been installed with electricity; 70% of the population lacks clean water for daily use;… Therefore, under the instigation of some bad elements, who painted a vision of life on the other side of the border with large land and easy business, many families sold all their assets and illegally crossed the border to Laos.

However, there are three problems arising from illegal migration: First, it creates psychological instability for people in border areas, affecting the border security policy of the Party and State. Second, the Lao ethnic groups themselves and the Lao government do not encourage ethnic minorities in border areas to migrate to Laos, leading to conflicts: in Vietnam, people enjoy support policies such as Program 135, Resolution 30a, etc., but in Laos, they do not receive support from the Lao government and live in poor conditions. Third, bad elements can take advantage of the migration situation of people to infiltrate, disrupt the peace of the border areas and even go deeper into the territory.

In this situation, the provincial border guards, in coordination with local authorities, have made efforts to carry out propaganda and mobilization work so that ethnic minorities have a correct and complete understanding of the legal regulations on cross-border movement. At the same time, they have disseminated to the people the State's support and priority policies for particularly difficult border areas. In addition, encouraging and supporting people to do business and escape poverty sustainably on their own homeland is also identified as a sustainable and long-term direction to eliminate illegal migration, contributing to ensuring security, order and peace along the national border.

Help people develop the economy

Working with the people to do business and develop their lives is also the second biggest task of the Border Guard force. For a large number of people who still have the mindset of waiting, relying, and not wanting to innovate, developing the border economy is a big challenge, especially with limited infrastructure, long travel distances, and underdeveloped means of communication. With the determination to become a support for the border area not only in terms of security but also in terms of economy and society, Border Guard officers and soldiers take the motto "When you go, people remember, when you stay, people love", creating a close connection with the locality and community where they receive the task, winning the trust of the people.

In Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district, soldiers of Mon Son Border Guard Station coordinated with functional agencies to open vocational training classes (brocade weaving, weaving, carpentry), and provide training on livestock and farming techniques for local people. Among them, there are 2 resettlement villages with particularly difficult economic life because local people are not familiar with the production methods in their new place. At the same time, in early 2015, the station also contributed part of the budget, participated in supporting local people to buy pig breeds, and build houses for particularly difficult households. In Tam Hop, Tuong Duong district, in addition to implementing the model of raising black pigs and Quy Chau ducks for local households, Tam Hop Border Guard Station also organized 22 households in Pha Lom village to plant 31.1 hectares of forest under the JICA Project (Japan). In the whole province, the Provincial Border Guard launched the program "Breeding cows to help the poor in the border areas", mobilizing over 200 million VND from donations and support from officers and soldiers, giving 21 breeding cows to 21 poor households in Mon Son (Con Cuong), Tam Hop (Tuong Duong) and Bac Ly (Ky Son). At the same time, coordinating with departments, branches and organizations to guide the people on techniques of raising and managing breeding cows. In localities with weak political apparatus, comrades at the border posts in the area were mobilized to supplement, strengthen and directly participate in the orientation and implementation of economic development, improving the cultural and social life of the locality. Thanks to the participation of Border Guard soldiers, the rate of poor households in border areas has gradually decreased and most importantly, people's awareness has clearly changed towards developing livestock farming and commodity production.

Thus, it can be said that the Border Guard is a force that plays the role of a bridge, connecting the people, Party committees, and authorities in the border area and the two sides of the border. On the one hand, it is a "blocking" force, protecting the peace of the border area and also a "fulcrum" for the socio-economic situation that still has many difficulties and limitations here. The closeness and closeness to the people and the area as well as the simple but extremely practical contributions have created a solid position for the Border Guard in the hearts of the people in the border area, thereby creating consensus and increasing the fighting strength of the Border Guard. At the end of June, in Nghe An, the signing ceremony of the Border Trade Agreement between Vietnam and Laos took place under the witness of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the two countries. When the Agreement officially takes effect, there will be many innovations in trade, export and import between the two sides. This door has just opened up new hopes, promising many great benefits for common development, but at the same time there are also challenges for protecting security and order in border areas. That, in no small part, is placed on the shoulders of soldiers wearing "green uniforms".

Thuc Anh