Old villagers help maintain border

Yet with support from the government, people in border regions are now choosing to remain in their local areas.

In these border villages of the Gia Lai ethnic people, many children are still not able to go to school. It takes only an hour to drive from here to Cambodia. Several adults have illegally crossed the border.

Old villager Siu Quy has visited each house in the area over the past 10 years to convince young people to remain in Vietnam.

"The border guards and authorities can teach us what we don’t know, what to do earn money. And so we don’t fear of poverty anymore", said Siu Quy, Tung Village, Ianan Commune, Duc Co Dist., Gia Lai Province.

The local authorities have organised regular meetings to promote the law to ethnic people. Women that have attended these meetings are expected to later teach their children. Although life is hard, many still seem convinced to stay in the area.

Thousands of hectares of plantations of cash crops are being planted along the border with the intention of providing stable incomes to the local people and consequently supporting their efforts to remain living on the border.