The Ministry of National Defense has just raised this content in its response to voters' petitions in Ha Tinh province regarding military service registration; regulations on tattoos and tattooing on the bodies of citizens enlisted in the army.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, tattooing and tattooing are regulated in Joint Circular No. 50/2016/TTLT-BQP-BCA dated April 15, 2016 of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security regulating political standards for recruiting citizens to serve in the Vietnam People's Army.
Accordingly, Clause 9, Article 5 stipulates that the following cases are not allowed to be recruited for service in the Army: On the body there are tattoos or tattoos with content opposing the regime, dividing the nation, being horrifying, strange, sexually aggravating, or violent. Tattoos and tattooed letters are offensive in the exposed position, such as: face, head, neck; from 1/2 of the upper arms down, from 1/3 of the lower thighs down. Tattoos and tattoos occupy an area of 1/2 back, chest, abdomen and above".
Thus, the regulation on tattoos and tattoos on the body is one of the contents of the political and ethical standards in selecting citizens for military service; therefore, the process of selecting and calling citizens for military service, does not allow citizens with tattoos and tattoos with the above content to join the army, causing offense, affecting the image and ceremony of the revolutionary soldiers, building a cultural environment in the Army. Citizens on the body with tattoos and tattooed letters that are not subject to the above regulations or can be erased will still be considered and called up for military service.
However, in reality, some citizens have taken advantage of this regulation to intentionally have tattoos and lettering on their bodies before the examination, or after the preliminary examination, if they know all the standards for military service to avoid performing military service, causing public outrage among the people.
In order to promptly contribute to preventing acts of taking advantage and evading military service, the Ministry of National Defense issued Official Letter No. 4142/BQP-TM dated November 5, 2020 on the selection and calling of citizens to join the army in 2021.
Along with that, direct the Military Security Protection Department to provide specific instructions on tattoos and tattoos when selecting and calling citizens to join the army, contributing to limiting the behavior of citizens taking advantage of tattoos and tattoos on their bodies to evade military service.
The Ministry of National Defense requests the National Assembly Delegation of Ha Tinh province; People's Councils at all levels in the locality to promote their role in supervising the implementation of the Law on Military Service, contributing to ensuring social justice, so that the law on military service is seriously and effectively implemented in the locality.
Previously, voters in Ho Chi Minh City and many other provinces and cities also petitioned: Currently, there are some young people who evade military service by using tattoos; request the Ministry of National Defense and socio-political organizations to coordinate in propagating to raise awareness of young people in parallel with strict measures to handle individuals who take advantage of tattoos to evade military service.
