Badrul Ahsan from New York :
The US President, Donald Trump, has assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of his country’s all out supports on the Rohingya issue while talking on the sidelines of a high level meeting on UN reforms on Monday.
“During the sidelines conversations of the high level meeting, Trump raised the Rohingya issue and gave the assurance of his country’s support to Bangladesh,” Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ihsanul Karim, disclosed this at a press briefing at Hotel Grand in New York on Monday night.
He said the US President also enquired about the current state of Bangladesh economy when Sheikh Hasina said it was progressing well.
Referring to the conversation at the UN headquarters, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said, “President Trump said the United States will stand beside Bangladesh on Rohingya issue.”
Bangladesh is now reeling on a disastrous situation after exodus of over 400,000 Myanmar nationals of Rohingya ethnicity since August 25 when the Burmese army launched an anti-Rohingya clampdown.
Previously, Bangladesh also accommodated another 400,000 of them for years as they fled their home to evade atrocities there.
Meanwhile, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also reiterated New Delhi’s assurance to remain beside Bangladesh on every issue, including the Rohingya one, and extend help to resolve the crisis.
The foreign secretary said that Sushma Swaraj informed the Bangladesh premier that she would visit Dhaka on October 23-24 to attend a Joint Commission meeting.
Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also made a courtesy on Sheikh Hasina at the UN Headquarters.
The UN refugee agency wants to help Bangladesh resolve the Rohingya problem, he said, adding he also planned to visit Bangladesh to observe the situation on the ground.
Sheikh Hasina said all UN agencies are welcome to work with her government in handling the issue but Bangladesh would exclusively carry out the task of the registration of displaced Myanmar nationals who took refuge in the country.
