Vietnam completes 95 pct of martyr remains recovery plan

Hanoi (VNA) – The national steering committee for search and gathering of martyr remains held a meeting on December 18 to review the implementation of a plan on searching and gathering martyr remains (also called Plan 1237) this year.

Vice Chairman of the Genera Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army Lt Gen. Do Can, who is also a member of the steering committee, said strong efforts have been made in 2017 to complete the list of and dossiers on martyrs, draw maps for the work, and build a database. 

The Defence Ministry handed over more than 500,000 dossiers to the Ministry of Information and Communications to build a national database, serve the seeking and recovery of martyr remains, and identify unknown martyrs.

As many as 2,368 sets of remains were founded and repatriated, including 1,156 sets retrieved in Vietnam, 338 others from Laos, and 874 from Cambodia, equivalent to almost 95 percent of the set target, he noted.

[Website providing database on martyrs debuts this month]

Cooperation with foreign partners in the work has been expanded, Can said, adding that the steering committee’s office coordinated with the Agency for Missing in Action Recovery and Identification under the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Korea to organise a programme on Vietnam veterans of America. This programme aims to receive information, exchange experience in seeking missing servicemen, and assist the identification of martyr remains.

In 2018, the committee targets about 2,000 sets of remains to be recovered, including 1,200 in Vietnam and 800 in other countries. It will also strive to draw maps for the search and gathering in 50 percent of the communes in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the steering committee, asked relevant agencies to capitalise on every channel and measure to collect information while synchronising the collected data to locate martyr remains.

Meanwhile, provincial-level administrations need to order local relevant agencies to pay due attention to the work, he added.

At the meeting, the national steering committee also opened a website on martyr-related information at http://thongtinlietsi.gov.vn .-VNA