The area of operation of the Coast Guard District 1 span the coast of 10 coastal provinces (cities) adjacent to the Gulf of Tonkin (from the Bac Luan Estuary of Quang Ninh province to the Con Co island of Quang province). This area witnesses a high frequency of incidents on sea, such as: the illegal fishing of foreign boats and ships, trade fraud and smuggling, drug-related crimes, etc, with sophisticated schemes. This has set higher requirements for the law enforcement and the protection of the seas and islands, while its infrastructure and facilities are limited, badly affecting its task performance. To fulfill its assigned tasks, the Party Committee and High Command of the District have adopted a number of guidelines and measures for leading and directing in order to promote the high sense of responsibility, creativity, self-reliance, bravery of its officers and soldiers while operating on sea. Among the adopted solutions, strengthening legal dissemination and education is considered the core task which will contribute to the management, maintenance and protection of sovereignty, law enforcement on seas and islands in the new situation.

As a marine law enforcer, to accomplish their tasks successfully, the Coast Guard’s officers and soldiers are required to deeply understand the domestic and international laws on sea, as well as agreements and decrees in which Vietnam is a signatory. Therefore, legal dissemination and education for officers and soldiers have been paid due attention by the Party Committee and Command of the District 1. Adhering to the Circular No.42/2016/TT-BQP dated 30 March, 2016 of the Minister of National Defence on legal dissemination and education in the Ministry of National Defence; the Decision No.2565/QĐ-HĐ dated 13 July, 2016 of the Council for legal disseminating and education coordination of the High Command of the Vietnam Coast Guard, the Party Committee, the Command, and its Council for legal dissemination and coordination, together with party committees and commanders of junior levels have always paid attention to leading and implementing the work with diversified methods suitable to particular areas, objects, functions and missions of each unit. Annually, plans for legal dissemination and education are built and implemented in a serious, scientific, and effective manner. The contents of education focus on the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Vietnam’s laws on anti-torture in the Military in the 2016 – 2020 period; the projects of “Strengthening legal dissemination and education for cadres and people in the border and island areas in the 2017 – 2020 period”, and “Strengthening the implementation of laws and policies on the economic, defence and security combination until 2020”, etc. In particular, importance has been attached to the Vietnam’s laws, the protection of sovereignty and sovereign right, jurisdiction over seas; to the functions, rights and responsibilities of the Vietnam’s Coast Guard.

A legal dissemination conducted by the Coast Guard District 1 in Ha Tinh province (Photo:canhsatbien.vn)

In order to make it effective, the Party Committee and Command of the District focus on training and enhancing the responsibility, skills, method of dissemination, and update the latest knowledge for the disseminators. The Council for legal dissemination and education, and disseminating groups of the District are usually consolidated to ensure the right structure with appropriate quantity and quality. The contents of dissemination are compiled in lesson plans and approved before use. Moreover, the activeness, creativeness of unions, particularly, youth union are promoted for renewing and diversifying models and methods of dissemination. Thereby, legal awareness and knowledge, and the law-abiding sense of officers and soldiers are increasingly enhanced, contributing to their task accomplishment.

Implementing the project on “Strengthening legal dissemination and education for cadres and people in the border and island area in the 2017 – 2020 period”, the Party Committee and Command of the District have directed its units to build plan and coordinate with coastal localities to conduct legal propagation with an aim to enhance the legal awareness of cadres and people in the coastal provinces. The propagation focuses on The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Law of the Sea of Vietnam, the Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Fishery Cooperation, The Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin, the Ordinance on the Vietnam Coast Guard, etc. Especially, implementing the program “Coast Guards accompanying fishermen”, units of the District have coordinated with friend forces of the Police, the Border Guard, the Navy, the Fishery Surveillance, the Centre for Search and Rescue District 1, and party committees, authorities, sectors and industries of the provinces in the District to deploy 15 propagation delegations to talk about sea and island matters, harmful effects of drug, and operations of the Vietnam Coast Guard with more than 6,000 cadres, students, workers, fishermen. Besides oral propagation, they also gave out leaflets, presented national flags, lifebuoys, life vests, etc to people and fishermen on every boat. Grasping the teaching of “born from the people, fight for the people”, officers and soldiers of the District have also been active in search and rescue activities, protecting and helping people living and working on sea, thereby showing the fine tradition of our Army. With a determination to help local people wholeheartedly, and their bravery and intelligence, officers and soldiers of the District stay alert on sea night and day, regardless of unfavourable weather conditions, and successfully searched and rescued many accidents on sea. They have fulfilled their function of a “troop for work” on sea, and been truly a reliable source of help of fishermen.

Moreover, the Party Committee and High Command of the District have also directed its offices and units to grasp the situation of the surrounding areas to opportunely and effectively prevent and counter illegal activities happen in their areas of operation. During their search and control, and law enforcement on sea, officers and soldiers of the District have proactively propagated and enhanced the awareness of fishermen and coastal people of the methods to prevent and combat illegal activities in their designated sea zone. By thoroughly implementing those measures, officers and soldiers of the District, together with fishermen, have grasped and successfully dealt with incidents on sea in light with the Party’s policies and viewpoints. They have always abided by laws, and promoted the virtues of “Uncle Ho soldier” during their task performance. With realistic operations, their levels of combat readiness, search and rescue, and law enforcement on sea have been increasingly improved, contributing to the maintenance of the peaceful environment, and the defence and security posture on sea.

The effectiveness of the legal dissemination and education have helped officers and soldiers of the District, and local people doing maritime economy enhance their legal awareness and knowledge, thereby improving their compliance with the State’s laws, the Military’s disciplines, and the unit’s rules, contributing to firmly protecting political security, order and safety on sea. In the coming time, the Party Committee and Command of the District will continue to their leadership and direction more effectively over the work, contributing to the successful accomplishment of their tasks and build the District “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, modern, and highly professional”, firmly protecting the country’s sovereignty over seas, islands, and continental shelf in the new situation.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Huy, Head of the Political Department under the Coast Guard District 1