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Published on November 29, 2017
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has renewed her call to the international community, including the United Nations, to put more pressure on Myanmar to take back its nationals from Bangladesh.
"The international community should continue to mount pressure on Myanmar so that they take back their forcibly displaced nationals from Bangladesh," she said when UN Under Secretary Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu paid a courtesy call on her at her office in Dhaka this morning.
After the meeting, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.
The premier said Bangladesh has given shelter to the Rohingya people on the humanitarian grounds. "But it won't be possible for us to keep them here for a long time," she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh experienced severe flood this year. "And on top of it, Rohingya crisis has become an additional burden for the country," she said.
The premier said the people of Cox's Bazar district are in trouble with the exodus of tens of thousands of Rohingya people who fled to Bangladesh following the atrocities on them.
Sheikh Hasina highlighted her government's various successes in different fields including women empowerment, development of agriculture, poverty reduction and rural development.
"The government is giving utmost priority to research for boosting agriculture production," she said.
Pointing out Vision 2021 of her government, she said it has been working with a planned manner to achieve the goal.
Referring to Bangladesh's commendable successes in achieving MDGs, the Prime Minister expressed her firm determination that it would also be able to achieve the SDGs set by the UN.
The UN Under Secretary highly appreciated Bangladesh's development in various sectors and said the world body is reviewing to continue its assistance for Bangladesh although the country is going to graduate to a middle income country from an LDC.
In this connection, Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu mentioned that graduation of a country from an LDC to a middle income country is a success of the UN efforts.
The UN Under Secretary said assistance won't be stopped if a country is graduated to a middle income one from an LDC saying the UN step should not be like punishment.
Fekitamoeloa said it is now revisiting rules and laws about how to provide the assistance to every individual country even after its graduation to a middle income country.
She said the UN would extend some kind of packages of assistance depending on the requirements and vulnerability of every single country and it would also discuss the requirements with the respective country.
The press secretary explained that previously the UN used to give such assistance under a single policy for all countries graduated to middle income countries from least developed countries.
PM's International Affairs Advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi and Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury were present.
Photo: Saiful Islam Kallol
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