UNB, Dhaka :
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Sunday said the United Nations is not against the government’s Bhasan Char Island plan where it wants to accommodate some 1,00,000 Rohingyas.
“UN isn’t against Bhasan Char…we don’t think anyone from the UN is against Bhasan Char,” he said adding that it has absolutely become clear after the visit of top three UN officials.
The State Minister was addressing a seminar titled “Rohingya Crisis: International Role for Tangible Solutions in Rakhine” organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) at the auditorium of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in the city.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, Prof Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University’s International Relations department, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh Steven Corliss and DCAB General Secretary Nurul Islam Hasib were also present at the seminar chaired by DCAB President Raheed Ejaz.
Bangladesh said the relocation of Rohingya people to Bhasan Char Island will help address the congestion problem in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps.
Bangladesh also informed it to the Heads of three UN agencies-Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Vitorino, Director
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Sunday said the United Nations is not against the government’s Bhasan Char Island plan where it wants to accommodate some 1,00,000 Rohingyas.
“UN isn’t against Bhasan Char…we don’t think anyone from the UN is against Bhasan Char,” he said adding that it has absolutely become clear after the visit of top three UN officials.
The State Minister was addressing a seminar titled “Rohingya Crisis: International Role for Tangible Solutions in Rakhine” organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) at the auditorium of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in the city.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, Prof Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University’s International Relations department, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh Steven Corliss and DCAB General Secretary Nurul Islam Hasib were also present at the seminar chaired by DCAB President Raheed Ejaz.
Bangladesh said the relocation of Rohingya people to Bhasan Char Island will help address the congestion problem in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps.
Bangladesh also informed it to the Heads of three UN agencies-Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Vitorino, Director
General of International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Mark Lowcock, Head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived here since August 25, 2017.
Prof Imtiaz said climate conditions can make nearly 100,000 Rohingyas vulnerable. “If the international community is so eager to protect their lives they should come up with workable options.”
