Dhaka,29 August 2018: ‘Bangladesh response to the Rohingya crisis was extraordinary’, said the UK FCO-DFID Joint Minister of State Alistair Burt MP during a meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam at his office today. The UK Minister was debriefing his Bangladesh counterpart on his visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox’sbazaar in the morning. Minister Burt expressed satisfaction at the noticeably improved physical infrastructure in the camps, including strong coordination between different UN and other agencies. He also deeply appreciated the sacrifices made by the host community in welcoming and sharing scarce resources and opportunities with the Rohingya people.

Welcoming the Fact-Finding Mission report published by the United Nations, the UK Minister opined that the ‘severity the report’ will be a big test for the international community how they would respond to the accountability aspects of the Rohingya crisis, including sustainable repatriation of more than one million Rohingys who want to go back to Myanmar. He further hoped that the Fact-Finding Mission report would help ‘change’ the current level of consensus at the international level, particularly at the UN Security Council, for sustainable solution to the crisis.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam thanked the UK government and people for all out support for the Rohingya crisis, including strong role at the UN Security Council. He expressed optimism that upcoming UN General Assembly would provide an opportunity to carry forward the international efforts to find concrete ways to resolve this protracted crisis.

The two Ministers also discussed about the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh that will take place later in 2018 or early 2019. The UK Minister expressed hope that the elections would be participatory, where all parties will join.    

State Minister Alam expressed satisfaction at the continued assistance from the UK, since our independence, in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.