President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Volkan Bozkir on Tuesday extolled Bangladesh's efforts to manage the Rohingya population and said the river island Bhasanchar became “another example” to the world on how to deal with the refugee issues.
“I really applaud the work done there….the quality of buildings and also taking all the precautions. I think this will be another example to the world on how to deal with refugee issues,” he said at a joint briefing after his meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the Foreign Service Academy.
He acknowledged that high-level work has been done by the Bangladesh government at Bhasanchar in creating adequate facilities and ensuring safety of relocated Rohingyas.
“I will mention it (about high-level work at Bhasanchar) everywhere,” he said.
He came to Dhaka on Tuesday for a two-day visit including to see Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar.
The foreign minister said he had invited him to visit Bhasanchar also.
Bozkir said due to time constraints, he could not go to visit the river island. But he watched a video playing during his meeting with the foreign minister.
This is his second visit to Bangladesh.
Bozkir will visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district to meet the Rohingyas on Wednesday. “I will give a message to Myanmar (regarding the Rohingya crisis) from Cox’s Bazar (today),” he said.
Earlier, the UN technical team gave a positive report regarding facilities at Bhashanchar after visiting the island in the Bay of Bengal where Bangladesh is relocating a faction of persecuted Rohingyas.
Bangladesh Navy has implemented the Ashryan-3 at Bhashanchar at a cost of Taka 3100 crore for accommodating 100,000 Rohingyas as some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017 and took shelter in Teknaf and Ukhia.
The government has been urging the UN and other international aid agencies to begin its operations in Bhasanchar but the UN has always maintained that their involvement in the island would depend upon the physical inspection.
Before joint the briefing, the UNGA president and the foreign minister held a meeting and discussed wide ranges of issues including Rohingya crisis, peace keeping mission, pandemic, climate change, culture of peace and Bangladesh’s graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, migration and Palestine issue.
At the briefing, Bozkir said Bangladesh’s role in the UN peacekeeping operations is very much appreciated.
Terming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a real leader in climate issue, he highly praised Bangladesh’s economic advancement and its graduation from LDC to a developing one.
“Bangladesh is the one that should be pointed as an example (for its economic success),” he said.
Foreign Minister Momen said they had fruitful discussions on SDG 17 and vaccination of Bangladesh UN peacekeepers.
He said the UNGA President has assured to provide assistance to Bangladesh in arranging the global conference on culture of peace this year.
The UNGA President delivered a speech at the Foreign Services Academy.
He also visited Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and paid tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He signed the visitors’ book there after placing a wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu.
His speech addressed the current international context - with a focus on global crises and emergencies – and reflected on the state of multilateralism and the United Nations system.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen received him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Gonobhaban in the morning before his meeting with the Foreign Minister.
The UN office earlier said, during the visit he would observe the “vital work” undertaken by the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNHCR Representative.
He will leave Dhaka for Pakistan on Wednesday.
