Grasping and executing Prime Minister’s Directive 01/CT-TTg on “organising the movement of all people’s participation in protecting territorial sovereignty and national security border in the new situation”, over the years, the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) of Kon Tum has always kept a close watch on areas at grass-roots level, dedicating themselves to the people, coordinating with local party committees and authorities to translate the Movement into life via practical, specific deeds.

Equipping the people with knowledge of national sovereignty and border security

Sharing a 292-kilometre-plus borderline with Laos and Cambodia, Kon Tum province has a border area of more than 4,300km² with complex terrain; the province’s border area is characterised by poor infrastructures and the people’s difficult living conditions. Meanwhile, hostile forces have been exploiting issues on “ethnicity”, “religion”, “democracy”, and “human rights” to enhance their sabotage strategy; trans-national, drug, and arms crimes, smuggling, trade frauds as well as illegal border crossing and forest product and mineral exploitation have been on the increase, posing threats to political security and social order and safety. As the core force in protecting national sovereignty and border security, over the years, in addition to raising its synergy and combat power, the PBG has focused its leadership and direction on well implementing the Movement of “all people’s participation in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security”, promoting the combined strength of the entire political system and people in this important task.

To that end, measures of leadership and direction of the PBG’s Party Committee and Command have been concretised into all-level resolutions, while mass mobilisation work has been closely, effectively carried out by border guard offices and posts. The PBG has proactively worked with local party committees and authorities towards the signing of regulations and action plans/programs as the legal corridor for the sake of synchronous coordination at all levels. It has cooperated with localities in inspecting and accelerating the implementation process to draw lessons and complete mechanisms and methods of encouraging the participation of the whole political system and people in protecting territorial sovereignty and border security. Due attention has been paid to conducting propagation work to raise public awareness and a sense of responsibility among party committees, authorities, and people towards the protection of territorial sovereignty and border security. The PBG has regularly provided assistance in building strong political bases, while helping the people, particularly ethnic minorities with sustainable poverty reduction.

Those specific, practical, effective approaches of the PBG have contributed to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”, laying a solid foundation for promoting the combined strength of the entire political system and people to protect national sovereignty and border security. Up to now, 284 collectives, 857 households, and 841 persons from 13 border communes have voluntarily committed themselves to managing the borderline and border markers; 4231 individuals have joined self-management security teams within their villages. Public awareness and a sense of responsibility among cadres and citizens, particularly those living along the border towards the protection of territorial sovereignty and border security have been increasingly raised; they have been self-aware to regularly inspect and protect the borderline and border markers, while grasping and reporting information about territorial sovereignty, political security, and social order and safety to local authorities and the PBG. During daily production and forest protection activities, citizens have organised themselves into household groups in charge of defending 86 border markers, conducting bush clearance along hundreds of kilometres of the border patrol road and routes to border markers, directly providing hundreds of pieces of valuable information for the PBG to handle offences, thus contributing to firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and border security.

In the upcoming time, new challenges and requirements will be imposed on the protection of territorial sovereignty and national border security; hence, there should be responsible involvement of the entire political system and people, especially the PBG, together with synchronous, effective, comprehensive measures to promote synergy for safeguarding national sovereignty and border security. Grounded in its functions and assigned tasks, the PBG will focus on several main measures as follows.

First, all-level party committees and commands within the PBG will enhance their leadership and direction over mass mobilisation work. Emphasis will be placed on stepping up the movement of “all people’s participation in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation”, carrying out socio-economic development projects, building strong political bases in the border area in line with strengthening national defence and security.

Border guard offices and posts will concretise regulations on coordination with local party committees, authorities, and unions into action programs/plans; resources will be tapped for fostering socio-economic development and protecting national sovereignty and border security simultaneously. Border guard offices and posts will also strictly maintain coordination with the Public Security Force to ensure political security and social order and safety in the border area, while deepening diplomatic ties with localities of Laos and Cambodia to build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation, and development.

Second, stepping up propagation work to encourage the people in the border area to grasp and well implement the Party’s lines and the State’s laws and policies on socio-economic development in tandem with national sovereignty and border security protection. Based on each area’s practical conditions, the PBG Command will coordinate with departments, sectors, and border districts to synchronously conduct propagation programs relevant to each target group. In addition to renewing the content and forms of propagation and promoting the role of the specialised force, offices and units across the PBG will continue to enhance propagation work via mass media, encouraging the people to take part in combating crime, maintaining security, and protecting territorial sovereignty and border security. Importance will be attached to combining patrols with propagation work to encourage the people to actively detect and report criminal signs and acts to competent forces for timely prevention, arrest, and punishment.

Grass-roots working teams and groups will continue to “listen to the people, make the people understand, and earn the people’s trust” by both words and actions, while approaching each household to disseminate laws relating to national sovereignty and border security, encouraging the people to change their ways of thinking and working, and helping them with economic development. Consideration will be given to raising ethnic minorities’ awareness and responsibility towards the exploitation of family resources and financial assistance from the State and society for production. At the same time, significance will be attached to encouraging the people to dispose of depraved customs, build new cultural life, independently escape poverty, and improve their living conditions.

Third, building a strong contingent of cadres in charge of mass mobilisation, capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks. Units across the PBG will regularly reinforce their Mass Mobilisation Team, with great value attached to selecting cadres who have political steadfastness, good moral qualities, and especially ethnic minority origin. The PBG will frequently improve its staff members’ command of ethnic minority, Laotian, and Khmer languages, while building a people-orientated, enthusiastic mass mobilisation style among its cadres at all levels. It will grasp and seriously implement the Party’s viewpoints on mass mobilisation work, advocating “staying close to the people, respecting the people, understanding the people, believing in the people”, adopting the “proactive, flexible, cautious, persistent, scientific, creative” motto, taking propagation, education, encouragement, and persuasion as the main measure. Moreover, it will promote the core role of border guard cadres who are deployed to work within local political bases and movements, while encouraging the participation of all forces and sectors in protecting national sovereignty and border security.

Fourth, continuing to join local party committees and authorities in fostering socio-economic development and helping the people with sustainable poverty reduction. To that end, border guard offices and posts will maintain a good grasp of the situation in their stationed areas to opportunely advise local party committees and authorities on measures of leadership and direction over socio-economic development and the people’s improved living standards. They will proactively cooperate with sectors and localities in effectively executing programs and projects on boosting socio-economic, cultural development and maintaining political security and social order and safety. All resources will be mobilised to synchronously implement measures of economic development in line with the “one commune, one product” program and design economic development models, with the aim of creating more employments and increasing productivity in the border area.

Furthermore, the PBG will continue “assigning its ethnic minority officers and professional service men and women to provide support for ethnic minority households in difficulty within the border area”, “tasking party members of border guard posts with giving assistance to households”, effectively realising models, such as “adopted children of border guard posts”, “providing breeding cows for poor people in border communes”, “accompanying frontier women”, and “facilitating children’s schooling” in line with local programs and movements as a favourable condition for the people to develop production, improve their life, and sustainably escape poverty on their own, thereby making contributions to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” and firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and border security in the strategic region of Central Highlands.

Sr. Col. LE MINH CHINH

Political Commissar of the PBG