Help people who make mistakes integrate into the community

(Baonghean) - The policy of establishing working groups to help people who have made mistakes reintegrate into the community is being effectively promoted by the Keng Du Border Guard Station (Nghe An Border Guard). Those who have completed their prison sentences and returned to their hometowns can live in a warm, loving atmosphere of the villagers, receive help in production, business, economic development, and a better life...

Officers and soldiers of Keng Du Border Guard Station (Ky Son) help Thoong My's family with production.

In 2009, Xeo Pho Thoong My (Keo Con village, Keng Du commune, Ky Son district) was arrested for drug trafficking, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison, thanks to good behavior, Xeo Pho Thoong My was released from prison early. Returning to his hometown to rebuild his life, he was regularly encouraged and supported by the local Party Committee, government, officers and soldiers of Keng Du Border Guard Station, who also guided his family in economic development. After only a short time, with the determination to rebuild his life, Xeo Pho Thoong My has built a career that many people dream of, a spacious stilt house, a rice milling machine to serve the daily life of his family and villagers, and his children can go to school. In particular, he realized that the mistakes he made were due to his lack of understanding of the law and volunteered to become an active member in propagating and disseminating the law to people in the border area where he lives.

Receiving us in a spacious wooden stilt house at the beginning of Keo Con village, Thoong My confided: “Previously, due to limited awareness, I violated the law and had to go to reform school for a while. During the sentence, thanks to good reform, I was released from prison early. When I returned home, I was cared for and helped by the local authorities and Keng Du Border Guard Station, so I was determined to become an honest citizen, thinking about making a living to support my wife and children.”

Lieutenant Xeo Van Thang, Head of the Mass Mobilization Team of Keng Du Border Guard Station (Ky Son) said: Initial contact with those who have made mistakes, finished serving their prison sentences, and returned to their locality is very difficult, because they often feel ashamed and are afraid to contact people around them. To approach them, we have to go through relatives, family members, and neighbors to grasp their thoughts and feelings, encourage them, and eliminate their inferiority complex. In particular, some officers and soldiers of Keng Du Border Guard Station are ethnic minorities, fluent in the local language, so it is easier to talk and approach them, which is a favorable condition for us in mobilizing and helping those who have made mistakes to integrate into the community. In addition to spiritual encouragement, the working group of Keng Du Border Guard Station also guides, helps, and supports those who have made mistakes to access suitable economic development models to stabilize their lives.

Every time someone completes their prison sentence and returns to their locality, the border guard station's working group coordinates with local authorities to discuss support measures. Each family and each situation is clearly understood in order to have an effective support plan.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thanh Tung, Political Commissar of Keng Du Border Guard Station, said: Thanks to the good work of propaganda, education, and helping people who have made mistakes to reintegrate into the community, they are no longer self-conscious and inferior, but know how to rise up in life, participate in social activities, and are willing to cooperate and help the Border Guard in ensuring security and order in the area, contributing to maintaining peace on the border. This is also the way that the Border Guard of Nghe An has been building to create new trust and close ties between the army and the people.

Hai Thuong
(Nghe An Border Guard)