Thoroughly grasping the Party’s military-defence viewpoints and guidelines, over the years, the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) of Dong Thap has closely cooperated with local party committees and authorities in taking various measures to build a firm posture of all-people border defence as a solid foundation for managing and protecting national border sovereignty and security in the new situation.

The province of Dong Thap shares a 50-km-long border with Prey Veng province (Cambodia). Along the border, there are 2 international border gates and 5 secondary ones. The province has 8 border communes where 28,000 households and 108,000 people are living. Within residential areas along the border, the people are confronted with a lot of difficulties due to the instability of employment. The rate of poverty is still high. The people’s intellectual level is not equal. Crime, social evils, drug trafficking, trade frauds, illegal immigration and smuggling are complex. All of those things negatively impact on the management and protection of the border. Against that backdrop, as the core, specialised force in managing and defending national border sovereignty and security, the PBG’s Command has advised the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee to enhance their leadership and direction over the border defence work, with a focus on building a firm posture of all-people border defence via various measures.

First of all, the PBG has assisted local party committees and authorities in strengthening their leadership and direction over this important task. The PBG’s Party Committee and Command have proactively worked with the province’s departments, sectors and committees to give advice to the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on issuing resolutions and directives for performing the border defence work and making the all-people border defence increasingly strong as the basis for building a firm posture of all-people border defence. It should be noted that the PBG has helped the Provincial Party Committee to release the Action Plan 86-CT/TU for the 12^th Politburo’s Resolution 33-NQ/TW, dated September 28^th, 2018 on “the strategy for national border protection” and advised the Provincial People’s Committee to promulgate the plan to implement the Government’s Project on “enhancing law propagation, dissemination and education for cadres and locals in the border areas,” the Programme to execute the Prime Minister’s Directive 01/CT-TT on “organising the movement of all people’s participation in protection national territorial sovereignty and border security in the new situation” as well as other documents on dealing with specific situations during the process of border management and protection. Units of the PBG have synchronously taken measures for the border defence work, stepped up patrols, kept the system of national border markers intact, and ensured the safety of border demarcation and marker planting on the field. They have proactively collaborated with Cambodia’s border defence units in settling issues along the border opportunely, effectively and preventing disputes over boundaries. At the same time, the PBG has given sound advice to the Dong Thap Provincial Steering Board on border demarcation and marker planting; therefore, Dong Thap has been the first province that had accomplished border demarcation and marker planting in the land border with Cambodia.

The PBG giving medical masks and hand santiser to the Checkpoint No.2 of the Cau Muong Border Guard Post

The work of propagation and education for the border people has been an important measure for the building of the all-people border defence posture. This work has enabled cadres, soldiers and citizens to grasp the Party’s guidelines and State’s law and policy on the Homeland protection. Focuses of propagation have been placed on the Politburo’s Resolution 33-NQ/TW, the Action Programme for the 12^th Politburo’s Resolution 16-NQ/TW, dated October 10^th, 2017 on land border communes’ socio-economic development associated with defence, security, diplomacy consolidation” by the Provincial Party Committee and other documents on the management and protection of the border, border defence diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy. Offices and units of the PBG have proactively cooperated with local competent agencies in enhancing defence and security education in line with the Project on “stepping up law propagation, dissemination and education for cadres and citizens in the border areas in the period of 2017-2021.” In the process, significance has been attached to renewing and diversifying forms and methods of propagation relevant to each group of citizens in a regular, constant, and focalised manner. Border guard posts have improved the efficiency of their mass mobilisation teams to carry out the work of propagation and mass mobilisation. They have actively regularly helped local party committees and authorities to raise the effectiveness of the “All-People Border Defence Day” and the movement of “all people’s participation in protecting national territorial sovereignty and border security in the new situation.” Besides, the PBG has promoted the work of special propagation, border defence diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy. In this regard, importance has been attached to including law propagation, dissemination and education in meetings of the people, unions, and border self-management teams and conducting this work via the internal radio system of border communes and border guard posts as well as via patrol and control at border gates.

Furthermore, the PBG has regularly collaborated with local party committees, authorities and unions in consolidating political bases, while actively taking part in fostering socio-economic development and improving the border people’s life. Great weight has been added to building pure, strong party organisations capable of playing their core role in leadership at grass-roots level, enhancing authorities’ management, and raising the quality of politico-social organisations and teams for self-managing national border line and markers. Under the Regulation 04-Qđi/TU, dated August 30^th, 2018 by the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board on “the responsibility, task, and work relationship of border guard post party members attending meetings of the border commune party committees’ affiliated party cells,” the PBG’s Party Committee has required border guard post party committees to deploy 67 party members to join meetings of hamlet-level party cells in 8 border communes and assign 957 cadres and party members to give assistance to border households, thus contributing to strengthening political bases and boosting socio-economic development at grass-roots level. Those cadres and party members have advised localities on effectively carrying out the “All-People Border Defence Festive Day” and the movement of “all people’s participation in protecting national territorial sovereignty and border security.” Joining localities in fostering socio-economic development and improving the border people’s life, they have “eaten with, lived with, and worked with” the people, helped locals to remove depraved customs, and changed their crops and livestock in order to raise the people’s intellectual level and maintain political and social stability.

Border guard posts have effectively realised models to help the people with socio-economic development and sustainable poverty reduction, such as “accompanying frontier women,” “the Border Guard Force joins hands for the poor - no one will be left behind,” “homes for the poor in the border area,” “the Border Guard Force joins hands in building new-style countryside,” “supporting children’s schooling,” and “border guard posts’ adopted children.” The PBG’s military medical force has regularly provided free medical examination and treatment for border locals. Moreover, the PBG has actively given supplies and medical equipment for the people and the force in charge of COVID-19 prevention and combat, while maintaining 7 fresh water supply stations for cadres, soldiers, and over 1,900 border households. It has also actively assisted the people in eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, building new-style countryside, and effectively realising the goals of socio-economic development in tandem with the building of a firm posture of all-people border defence.

Preventing, detecting, and combating crime of various types and maintaining political security and social order and safety represents a prerequisite for building a firm posture of all-people border defence. Hence, the PBG’s Party Committee and Command have synchronously taken measures for the border defence work, while actively, proactively prevented and combated COVID-19. The PBG has strictly maintained combat readiness duties, enhanced patrols along the border line, trails, and gates, and well carried out the border defence diplomacy work during COVID-19 prevention and control. It has cooperated with functional agencies in controlling immigration and combating illegal immigration under the Government’s regulations to prevent the epidemic from spreading across communities. It has proactively grasped the situation, opportunely identified and effectively fought against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices so as to maintain security and order in the border area. Coordination has been promoted to render the people fully aware of crimes, particularly smuggling and narcotic and human trafficking. Since the beginning of 2021, the PBG has collaborated with competent forces in investigating and combating a lot of violations of law. Besides, border guard posts have strengthened measures to closely control people, vehicles and goods across the border to meet the requirements set by economic cooperation and development in the border area. The PBG has well executed regulations on coordination between the Military, the Public Security, and the Customs to protect national security, maintain social order and safety, and perform the defence work. Also, it has well organised its specialised exercises and taken part in defensive zones at provincial and district levels, thereby contributing to increasing its combat coordination and capacity to deal with situations and firmly protect national sovereignty and border security.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN VAN MINH, Deputy Commissar of the PBG