European countries stand by Bangladesh for Rohingya repatriation: Foreign minister

The European Union and West European countries are on the side of Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees to their own country, said Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday (May 2).

He made the comment during the question and answer session of Jatiya Sangsad session chaired by Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury.

In response to a written question submitted by independent lawmaker Abdullah Nahid Nigar, the foreign minister said, “The foreign ministry is working on creating international pressure on Myanmar in addition to negotiating with the country to repatriate the Rohingya refugees. As a result of continuous diplomatic efforts, the European Union and Western European countries continue to provide all kinds of humanitarian and political assistance and support to the government to ensure the sustainable, safe and speedy repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar.”

The foreign ministry is working, Mahmud continued, on various bilateral issues with the countries of Africa and Latin America as well as with the United States, United Kingdom, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

“Our main goal as the premiere has instructed is to increase the economic prosperity and brighten the image of Bangladesh through economic diplomacy, through our overseas embassies to increase investment in Bangladesh and increase Bangladesh's exports to those countries,” he said.

“The foreign ministry is working together with the relevant ministries and organisations to export skilled and semi-skilled manpower from Bangladesh in addition to expanding labour markets in the Middle Eastern and European countries along with Japan, South Korea and other countries. As a result of the relentless efforts of the foreign ministry, our bilateral relations with many countries have improved,” he claimed.

The foreign minister said, “We have paid special importance to Latin and African countries in recent times to strengthen economic relations along with diplomatic relations. Bangladesh's trade with South American countries including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay is very limited. The bilateral trade situation is similar in the case of African countries.”

“However, these regions have a lot of potential in various fields of bilateral relations including trade. So, we are emphasising to expand bilateral trade to potential and unexplored markets. In recent years, high-level delegations have visited Brazil, Mexico, Botswana, South Africa and various South East Asian countries with an aim to expand our export basket. Each visit is aimed at identifying potential areas of trade and investment and creating channels of communication between businessmen and investors," the minister added.