Hundreds of Bắc Ninh families face imminent forced evictions with no temporary housing in sight.
The Latest: On the afternoon of July 3, the Lương Tài Commune People’s Committee held a dialogue at the Tử Nê village cultural house with villagers regarding projects related to the airport.
- At the meeting, numerous residents voiced their frustration after their families received notices requiring them to relocate before Aug. 30, even though no temporary housing has been arranged.
Residents’ Concerns: During the dialogue, residents expressed feeling blindsided.
One resident—who felt that her trust had been broken—noted that the commune chairman had previously assured them they would “not have to move again” until permanent housing was secured.
- “Before, I asked the commune chairman whether our Nê [Tử Nê] village would have to move again, and you answered that we would not have to move again; if we moved, the whole village would move together, and there would be resettlement so we could finish building houses before relocating,” she said.
- The resident added, “Because you told us that, we did not rent houses, while people everywhere else did. I have spent the past three or four days looking and still cannot rent a place. […] Now even places like bird cages or pig pens are asking 7 million or 8 million đồng (about $266-$304); take it or leave it. […] I had just come back from searching for a house and even forgot to eat lunch. You must understand how miserable I am.”
- She emphasized that the primary concern is not the temporary housing allowance, but the fact that they “cannot rent a house.” “If any of you have a house, let me stay there. We do not need the 1.5 million or 2 million đồng in temporary housing support,” she said.
- “[…] I trusted the commune chairman, the highest-ranking person in this commune. Many people went out to rent homes, but I trusted you, so I did not. Other people said we were about to have to leave and posted things online, but I did not believe them. I believed the commune chairman that we would only move after resettlement was ready. Now what you are doing is pushing us into the street. If we cannot rent a house and you say we must leave by Aug. 30, then you really are pushing us into the street,” she added.
Another resident also objected to the temporary relocation plan, saying that the biggest concern was finding temporary housing, not the level of government support.
- “[…] The proper sequence should have been resettlement first, so we would suffer less. My family has three children and has also gone through temporary relocation. I found it extremely difficult and exhausting. Now, if more than 500 households in Tu Ne village, not counting nearby villages, also have to move temporarily, that is simply impossible and inadequate,” he said. “I rarely go out, but these past few days I have had to look for rental housing and came back empty-handed. If I did not have to attend this meeting this afternoon, I would have kept looking, all for the homeland, for the country, for the airport.”
- “[…] Temporary relocation is extremely difficult, let alone support or bonuses. If the government represents the people and is supposed to be the people’s parent, but now cannot care for them and instead pushes them into the street. These days it is 39-40 degrees Celsius outside; you step out of your office and can hardly stand it. So imagine us residents, with elderly people, children, and the sick. Such a scenario is not feasible.”
- He urged officials to ask higher authorities to halt temporary relocation in this second phase, citing the sacrifices residents have already made: “[…] We already sacrificed in phase one […] You have seen our sacrifices, including the relocation of graves. So in phase two, speaking personally, I do not agree to temporary relocation. If we are forced to go, then the chairman must give me a temporary place to stay. If we have to go out into the street and build a shack or pitch a tarp to live under, I do not think I can endure that.”
N.H., a resident of Tử Nê village in Lương Tài commune, told Luật Khoa that “my family is gradually liquidating our belongings to relocate under the phase two site clearance plan [for the Gia Bình Airport project]” and that “my family will be forced to move on Aug. 30.”
T., who lives in Phú Dưới village in Lương Tài commune, also told Luật Khoa that “my house will be relocated on Sept. 30, and there has not yet been an official notice of the exact date my family needs to leave.”
Government Response: The official state narrative differs.
- Truyền Thông Lương Tài, a Facebook page that regularly posts announcements from the Lương Tài commune government, claimed that “in a democratic spirit, many households expressed agreement and support […] and hoped the project would be implemented soon.” They did acknowledge that “some households also requested […] further clarification on issues related to compensation policies, […] the conditions and criteria for resettlement allocation, and the timing of resettlement land handover before residents relocate, to help stabilize their lives.”
- However, Notice No. 59 related to land recovery, posted by the page on June 25, lacked a specific timeline, stating only that it would follow “the project implementation schedule approved by the competent authority.” Section 6 of the notice, concerning the relocation plan, similarly stated the process would be “carried out under the resettlement arrangement plan approved by the competent state agency.”
The Gia Bình Commune Party Committee issued a document on July 1 stating that “the relocation of assets from the Đồng Lâm and Quỳnh Bội residential areas must be completed before July 20 and from the Đỗ Xá residential area before Aug. 20.”
It remains entirely unclear exactly when all families living in Lương Tài commune must officially hand over their land.
The Background: Lương Tài commune in Bắc Ninh province is currently the site of eight major simultaneous projects.
- The total land area expected to be recovered for these projects is nearly 1,300 hectares, with the airport project alone accounting for more than 1,000 hectares.
- These developments are expected to affect about 7,800 households, including approximately 1,200 Catholic households, along with about 8,000 graves and 19 Catholic religious structures within the affected area.
- In phase two, Lương Tài commune aims to complete the relocation of all graves and clear the remaining agricultural land before July 30. For residential land, the commune aims to complete compensation, support, and site clearance before Dec. 30.
Project Details: Gia Bình Airport is one of the fastest-moving airport construction projects in Việt Nam.
- Managed by the Ministry of Public Security and developed by Masterise Group, the project has a total investment capital of about 196.378 trillion đồng. Even though its investment policy was approved only in mid-December 2025, it is advancing at a rapid pace.
- The construction is divided into two main phases (2025-2030 and 2031-2050), with the initial two years heavily focused on building facilities to serve the 2027 APEC summit. In total, the project will recover nearly 1,960 hectares of land, affecting roughly 7,100 households and 118 organizations, with about 5,800 households slated for resettlement.
Thành Phương wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on July 7, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
