13 January 2023:

UN OHCRH Special Rapporteur for Human Rights of Migrants Mr. Felipe González Morales congratulated Bangladesh on being elected to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for 2022-23 with overwhelming support from the international community. The Special Rapporteur said this during his meeting with Bangladesh's Ambassador to Spain Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood, ndc at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Madrid today. Special Rapporteur Morales will be on an official visit to Bangladesh on 20-31 January 2023.

Mr. Morales also commended the key role that Bangladesh played in the adoption of the 'Global Compact on Migration', a negotiated UN agreement that advocates migrants' rights and dignity. He particularly praised the noble statesmanship of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for sheltering the 1.2 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (Rohingyas) in Bangladesh with all basic amenities, despite resource constraints.

The Ambassador urged Special Rapporteur Morales to mobilize assertive support from the international community, so that the Rohingya people fleeing massacre in their own homeland could be sustainably repatriated to Myanmar.

"Committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the norms of democracy, Bangladesh stands for the oppressed humanity all over the world, as the nation itself had to suffer human rights violations during the 1971 genocide, he said while also briefing the Special Rapporteur on the country's remarkable socioeconomic achievements and the progress in meeting the SDGs. He sought support of the UN OHCRH to Bangladesh's bid to have 25 March recognized as the 'International Genocide Day'.

Mr. Morales fondly said that he treasured his personal collection of the recordings of the 'Concert for Bangladesh' held in 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York. He inspected the Bangabandhu Corner at the Embassy and condemned, in the strongest terms, the killing of the Father of the Nation and his family on 15 August 1975.