VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the Ministry of Public Security to cancel the issuance of new ID cards with the parent names of the card holders.
Parent names on ID: Violating international convention
Major General Tran Van Ve, Deputy Director of the General Department of Police for Administration of Social Safety and Order has confirmed the information, saying that the agency will not extend the issuance of new ID cards. The new ID cards will be only issued on a trial basis in the districts of Tay Ho, Hoang Mai and Tu Liem in Hanoi.
Ve said the grant of new ID cards with the names of the ID holder’s parents is in accordance with the Government’s Decree 170/2007. However, when the new ID cards were applied, the public and judicial experts immediately protested it.
The Department for Inspection of Legal Documents of the Ministry of Justice also said that this is contrary to the Civil Code of Vietnam and the International Convention on the Rights of Children which Vietnam signed in 1988. The Ministry of Justice then admitted its mistake in missing that big error in Decree 170/2007.
Major General Ve said the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice had agreed to develop the national population database through the grant of the personal identification number or citizen code – which is the 12 digit number on the new ID card. The two ministries will also submit to the government the residential management projects based on the national population database project.
The Ministry of Justice will compile the Residency Law, with the regulations stipulating that newborn babies will be granted with a 12-digit personal code by the Ministry of Public Security. This number will become their ID card number in the future, when they reach the age of 14.
The General Department of Police for Administration of Social Safety and Order will issue the personal codes in the port city of Hai Phong on a trial basis, using Eur10 million of Hungary’s ODA.
The Ministry of Public Security will also spend VND3 trillion ($150 million) to implement the national population management project, which is being considered by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Major General Ve added that so far, his agency has granted about 35,000 new ID cards to Hanoians. “Many people advocate of the new ID cards with parent names,” he said.
NLD