The Central Party Office recently released a notice regarding the conclusions of General Secretary To Lam from his working session with agencies on policies for people with meritorious service and the search and collection of martyrs' remains.
The Party leader emphasized that this is a "political imperative" and a measure of the Party and State's responsibility. He demanded that all outstanding issues be comprehensively addressed between now and 2027, including: collecting martyrs' remains, identifying identities through DNA testing, reviewing preferential policies, and returning keepsakes to families. Policy implementation must be swift, with absolutely no shifting of responsibility causing delays.
General Secretary To Lam offers incense at martyrs' graves in Vi Xuyen National Martyrs' Cemetery, afternoon of 5/2. Photo: Ha Giang Newspaper |
The General Secretary assigned the Central Military Commission to lead bomb and mine clearance efforts and accelerate the search for martyrs' remains in key border areas such as Lao Cai, Lang Son, and especially Vi Xuyen. In the core Vi Xuyen area, he requested that the collection be largely completed before 7/2027 (the 80th anniversary of Invalids and Martyrs' Day), with other areas targeted for completion by 2030. The goal is to collect biological samples from all unidentified martyrs' graves before 7/2027.
The Central Public Security Party Committee is tasked with establishing a gene bank for martyrs' relatives and upgrading DNA identification technology to be modern and self-reliant. If necessary, foreign units may be contracted for identification services.
The Government Party Committee must immediately remove financial and technological bottlenecks in early 2026 and definitively process all previously received remains and biological samples.
Regarding policies for people with meritorious service, the General Secretary urged the immediate addition of regulations to recognize as martyrs those wounded soldiers who died due to recurring injuries or individuals who sacrificed their lives during secret missions. These issues must be fundamentally resolved in 2026. Additionally, there is a need to "research policies for demobilized soldiers, frontline civilian laborers, youth volunteers, and second and third-generation Agent Orange victims."
Concerning war keepsakes, the Ministry of Home Affairs is assigned to inventory all 70,000 artifacts currently stored, build a digital database, and return them to martyrs' relatives according to their wishes, with completion slated for 2026.
The Vi Xuyen Cemetery, the resting place for martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the battle to protect the northern border, was recently expanded to cover over 10 hectares. In 2/2025, the General Secretary visited the site to offer incense and pay tribute to the heroic martyrs.
Vu Tuan
