Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Monday told a visiting US delegation that Bangladesh does not subscribe to any idea of long-term hosting of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh and urged the international community to focus on their immediate safe return to Myanmar.
He made the comment when US Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs Ambassador Michele J. Sison called on him.
Ambassador Sison highly appreciated Bangladesh’s humanitarian gesture extended to the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs), the foreign ministry said.
Bangladesh also thanked the US side as it has decided to extend their support to the Rohingyas now living in Bhasan Char.
After the meeting, the foreign secretary told reporters that he thanked them (US side) as they would extend their support to the Bhasan Char.
He said Bangladesh also thanked the US side recalling that Washington in March determined members of the Myanmar military committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” against Rohingya following a rigorous factual and legal analysis.
He also urged him to extend their support regarding the Rohingya case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague brought by The Gambia under the genocide convention.
“The issue of third country resettlement also came up in the discussion,” he said.
Ambassador Sison expressed her felicitations on the 50 years celebration of Bangladesh-US diplomatic relations. Referring to the robust multilateral engagements between the two countries, both the dignitaries candidly discussed various multilateral issues of mutual interests.
They exchanged views on the priority issues, particularly in the UN and other international organisations, including peacekeeping operations, food security, global health emergencies, climate resilience, human rights, and the Rohingya issue.
Sison praised Bangladesh’s tremendous success in countrywide COVID-19 vaccination, ensuring food security, and Bangladesh’s contributions in peacekeeping operations (PKO), and particularly women’s participation in the PKOs.
Both also discussed the upcoming elections in the multilateral fora.
After the call on, Ambassador Michele Sison attended a luncheon hosted by the Foreign Secretary in her honour.
Earlier, a discussion session between the senior officials from the different ministries of the government and the US delegation led by Sison was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They exchanged views on peacekeeping operations, food security, global health, climate change, human rights and Rohingya crisis and possible repatriation, G77 dynamics, and Bangladesh-US partnership in the UNESCAP.
The delegation led by Ambassador Sison also attended a roundtable discussion at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in the afternoon.
Sison arrived in Dhaka on Saturday evening as part of her tri-nation visit (India, Bangladesh and Kuwait) for consultations on a range of US multilateral priorities, including combating food insecurity, advancing global health, addressing human rights and humanitarian needs, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and support for Rohingya refugees.