Thoroughly grasping the Party’s defence-military guidelines, over the past years, the Provincial Border Guard Force (PBGF) of Phu Yen has adopted measures to build the all-people border defence posture, laying a solid foundation for the protection of sea border sovereignty and security. To meet the new requirements of safeguarding the sea and island sovereignty, the PBGF has attached great importance to performing this task via practical measures.

Phu Yen province has a 190-km-long coastline and many straits, bays, swamps, estuaries, and islands, thus having great potential for economic development, particularly tourism, seaport services, and fishery industry. However, in the province’s sea border areas, there are many potential destabilizing factors. Many foreign vessels violate our territorial waters to illegally explore and exploit natural resources while there is an increase in the number of our fishing vessels driven away and captured by foreign vessels, thereby negatively impacting on the economic development and causing difficulties in the management and protection of sea border sovereignty and security. Against that backdrop, the PBGF’s Party Committee and Command have counselled the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee to strengthen their leadership and direction over the performance of the border defence work, with a focus on building a firm posture of all-people border defence as the basis for defending the sea border sovereignty and security and facilitating the province’s socio-economic development.

To begin with, the PBGF’s Party Committee and Command have advised the province on improving the quality of legal propagation, dissemination and education in order to raise cadres and people’s awareness of the protection of sea and island sovereignty. While effectively providing the knowledge of defence and security for cadres, party members and people of coastal localities, the PBGF has stepped up the implementation of the Project on “providing legal education for cadres and people in the border, sea and island areas”, and cooperated with sectors, organizations, and local party committees and authorities in enhancing the propagation and dissemination of agreements on the sea border, the National Border Law, the Government’s Decree 71/2015/NĐ-CP on management of activities of persons, vehicles and craft in maritime boundary areas of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. To make this work effective, the PBGF has employed various forms, combined oral propagation with propagation via leaflets delivered to each commune, village, quarter, residential area, organized knowledge contests and dialogues on border, sea and island laws, established law bookshelves and clubs, worked with Phu Yen Provincial Radio-Television Broadcasting and Newspaper to open columns, such as “For the sea and island border sovereignty” and “All-people border defence” to convey the content related to the management and protection of sea border sovereignty and security. As a result, cadres and people’s awareness of the law has been raised, and they have been self-ware to observe the regulations of the law on border, seas and islands.

To promote the strength of all people in the protection of sea and island sovereignty, the PBGF has counselled local party committees and authorities at all levels to enhance the movement of all people’s participation in protecting border, sea and island sovereignty and security. At present, Phu Yen province has over 29,000 labourers working on over 6,200 vessels of all types, including 700 high-powered fishing vessels with over 5,000 labourers who regularly work offshore. This force is always on the front line of the Homeland, acting as “living boundary markers”. To encourage the role of this important force, on the basis of the Prime Minister’s Directive 01/CT-TTg on “organizing the movement of all people participating in the protection of national border sovereignty and security in the new situation”, the Provincial Party Executive Committee’s Directive 33-CT/TU, and the Provincial People’s Committee’s Plan 76/KH-UB on holding the movement “the masses take part in protecting sea sovereignty and coastal area order”, the PBGF has cooperated with local party committees and authorities in persuading the people to establish and maintain safe production teams at sea and self-control clans and families as well as ship owners to readily fight against acts of violation of sovereignty and sovereign rights at sea. At the same time, it has directed Border Posts to advise coastal communes, wards, and townships to organize “the all-people border defence day” on an annual basis in order to assess the result of coordination, opportunely commend and reward typical collectives and individuals in the movement of all people taking part in protecting sea and island sovereignty and security. Since 2009, the province has founded and maintained 27 law clubs, including over 1,200 members and hundreds of law bookshelves, established 113 safe production teams at sea, 71 self-control teams, and 2 safe docks, mobilized 620 fishermen and 60 vessels in the fight against violation of sovereignty and sovereign right at sea. The masses have provided nearly 3,300 pieces of valuable information for the PBGF to prevent and combat crime of all types, thereby contributing to protecting the sea border sovereignty and security.

Advocating that building the grass-roots political system in the sea border areas is a core element in the building of all-people border defence, the PBGF has actively participated in building political bases and boosting local socio-economic development. Reviewing and grasping the situation, quality and operation of the system of political bases, the PBGF’s Party Committee and Command have advised local party committees and authorities on measures to consolidate and improve the quality of operation of party organizations, authorities and unions. At the same time, it has directed border posts’ party committees to dispatch cadres and party members who have political will, good morality, deep knowledge of the area, good capability in mass mobilization, and great prestige to join grass-roots level party organizations and cells. This force has been assigned to counsel the leadership and implementation of the task, to build strong political bases, to enhance the leadership capability of the party organizations, and to encourage the role of grass-roots level Fatherland Fronts and unions, thereby creating the synergy of the whole political system to foster the socio-economic and cultural development, strengthen defence and security, and build strong all-people border defence right at the grass-roots level.

To combine economic development with the building of all-people border defence, the PBGF Command has proactively participated in appraising socio-economic development projects in the sea port and border gate areas, such as the fisheries logistics centre, anchorage and storm shelter zones, coastal defence works, infrastructure, coastal traffic roads. Besides, it has actively engaged in local socio-economic development while stepping up the movement “The Border Guard Force of Phu Yen joins hands in building new-style rural area”. It is worth noting that the PBGF has advised party committees and authorities and closely cooperated with organizations, forces and enterprises in well executing the policies to encourage the people’s fisheries and the projects for socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction as well as new countryside building. Also, the PBGF has assisted the people in implementing the procedures for loans, manufacturing new high-powered fishing ships, and building rural roads, irrigation canals, and public works. It has effectively carried out movements and models for facilitating the economic development in the sea border areas, such as “clever mass mobilization”, “offices and units help communes and villages in difficulty, cadres, party members, and public servants help poor households”, “supporting children’s schooling”, “let’s clean the sea”, etc. Besides, the PBGF has provided free medical examination and medicine for the people, families under the preferential treatment policy, and families in difficulty. Over the past 5 years, the PBGF has cooperated with the Provincial Fatherland Front in building and presenting 170 Great Unity Houses and 4 public works as well as worked with the Provincial Confederation of Labour to give presents to fishermen having accidents at sea under the project on “supporting fishing vessels”, thus contributing to consolidating the people’s faith in the Border Guard Force and the solidarity between the people and the Military.

Furthermore, the PBGF has assisted local party committees and authorities in opportunely handling complex issues to avoid “flashpoints”. To that end, the PBGF has synchronously adopted measures for border defence, improved the quality of grasping, analyzing, forecasting the situation, opportunely detecting and effectively preventing acts of violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty, smuggling and illegal fishing in our waters. At the same time, it has firmly grasped the situation in the area to detect internal contradictions and opportunely give advice to local party committees and authorities to deal with them and avoid flashpoints. The PBGF Command has regularly reviewed, built, and completed the system of combat documents, accelerated the work of training and regularity building, observed the order for combat readiness duty to secure units and areas and avoid falling into passivity. Furthermore, the PBGF has cooperated with the Military, Public Security, Customs, Navy, Coast Guard, and the border guard of other provinces in formulating the regulations on coordinating the protection of sea border sovereignty and security, the management of internal watercraft, and the control of immigration in the sea border areas. The unit has also stayed close to the areas, grasped the situation, and counselled the province to deal with illegal public gatherings, complaints and denunciations related to the projects in the areas.

The synchronous adoption of measures to build a firm posture of all-people border defence in the province’s area has really contributed to well performing the work of border defence, cementing the national great unity, safeguarding the Homeland’s sea and island border sovereignty and security.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Standing Member of the Provincial Party Committee

Secretary of the PBGF’s Party Committee, Commissar of the PBGF