Foreign-Affairs
Dhaka issues helpline numbers for Bangladeshis stranded in Ukraine
Bangladesh has asked its nationals stranded in Ukraine to contact the country's diplomatic missions in the neighbouring European countries while Poland and Romania came forward to provide temporary shelters for Bangladeshis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday issued helpline numbers for the stranded Bangladeshi nationals to help them get into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, all bordering Ukraine.
For Slovakia and Hungary, Bangladesh nationals have been asked to get in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Austria.
They can reach Rahat Bin Zaman, Deputy Chief of Mission on +43 688 60344492 and Jubayadul H Chowdhury on +43 688 60603068 in Vienna.
For Romania and Moldova, people in distress can get in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Romania, Bucharest: (i) +40 (742) 553 809, (ii) Mir Mehedi Hasan (tel & WhatsApp group) +40 (742) 553 809.
For Poland, they can contact the following people at the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw -- Md Masudur Rahman, +48 739 527 722: Md Mahbubur Rahman, +48 579 262 403; MST Farhana Yesmin, +48 690 282 561; Billal Hossain, +48 739 634 125; and Md Rabbani, +48 696 745 903.
Poland has "opened its border with Ukraine" to let in Bangladeshi nationals from the neighbouring country in the wake of a Russian invasion.
Bangladesh citizens carrying passports can secure a travel pass at the border to enter Poland without a visa, but they need to carry two colour passport-sized photos with them, the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw said in a notification on Friday.
Bangladesh does not currently have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's Embassy in Poland only acts as Ukraine's de-facto diplomatic mission.
Read:Poland 'to let in stranded Bangladeshi nationals from Ukraine'
A team from the Embassy in Warsaw will also reach the Poland-Ukraine border on Saturday to assist Bangladeshi citizens wishing to enter Poland. The countries share an over 500km-long border.
Poland 'to let in stranded Bangladeshi nationals from Ukraine'
Poland has "opened its border with Ukraine" to let in Bangladeshi nationals from the neighbouring country in the wake of a Russian invasion.
Bangladesh citizens carrying passports can secure a travel pass at the border to enter Poland without a visa, but they need to carry two colour passport-sized photos with them, the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw said in a notification on Friday.
Bangladesh does not currently have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's Embassy in Poland only acts as Ukraine's de-facto diplomatic mission.
A team from the Embassy in Warsaw will also reach the Poland-Ukraine border on Saturday to assist Bangladeshi citizens wishing to enter Poland. The countries share an over 500km-long border.
Also read: Go to Romania, Bangladesh tells its nationals in Ukraine
The Embassy also urged the Bangladeshi expats who are in far away areas from the Poland border to observe the situation carefully before moving ahead.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has advised its citizens who are in the south and southwest of Ukraine to go to Romania.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Friday said the Romanian government will make arrangements for their two-day stay and then arrange for their return to Bangladesh under the supervision of the Bangladesh Embassy in Bucharest.
Earlier, on Thursday, State Minister for Foreign Md Shahriar Alam said that the government would arrange chartered flights to bring back Bangladeshis from Poland if they can safely enter Poland with visa on-arrival on an emergency basis with the support of the Polish government.
“Our first task is to bring our citizens to Poland safely from Ukraine,” he told reporters at his office, adding that they had already talked to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Biman Bangladesh Airlines to that end.
The State Minister had also said they would finalise the modalities of evacuation from Poland and "will talk to foreign airlines too, if needed".
Also read: Bangladesh to arrange evacuation flight from Poland after its citizens’ entry from Ukraine
"Poland will allow Bangladeshis to stay for 15 days upon their arrival from Ukraine and the government of Bangladesh hopes to bring back its citizens much ahead of the 15-day timeline."
The State Minister had also said that the Bangladesh Embassy in Poland "is taking preparations to provide accommodation facilities for Bangladeshis’ stay there until their evacuation". "They (Bangladeshis) need to come to the Polish border from Ukraine making their own arrangements."
An estimated 500 Bangladeshi nationals, including students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.
Go to Romania, Bangladesh tells its nationals in Ukraine
Bangladesh has advised its citizens who are in the south and southwest of Ukraine to go to Romania.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Friday said the Romanian government will make arrangements for their two-day stay and then arrange for their return to Bangladesh under the supervision of the Bangladesh Embassy in Bucharest.
READ: Explosions heard in Kyiv early Friday as Russia presses Ukraine assault
'The Bangladesh Embassy in Romania will issue a more detailed notice shortly," he said.
Assam CM wants Bangladesh's support to use Chittagong Port
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has sought Bangladesh's support to use Chittagong Port.
He made the request during his meeting with Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud Thursday afternoon.
To ensure better use of Chittagong Port by Bangladesh and its neighbouring countries, the port is being upgraded and modernised, Hasan Mahmud said.
The minister is on a week-long visit to India to attend various events, marking the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence and birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The curtain of the Bangladesh film festival was raised Thursday in Guwahati, with Hasan Mahmud as the chief guest of the opening ceremony.
Parimal Shuklabaidya, minister of the Department of Environment and Forest, Excise and Fisheries of Assam, was present as the guest of honour.
Hasan Mahmud briefly elaborated how the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence are being celebrated around the world.
Parimal Shuklabaidya emphasised increasing the number of cultural exchange programmes. "People of both countries would come to know each other more closely by exchanging more and more movies."
The cultural soiree was illuminated by various ethnic performances of Assam.
The most enthralling part was the dance performance on the famous songs on Bangabandhu translated into the Assamese language by Manjary Dance Academy and traditional Bihu dance by Assamese artists.
Bangladesh lawmakers Mamtaj Begum and Saimum Sarwar Kamal spoke at the programme.
Actors Ferdows, Apu Biswas and folk artist Fakir Shahabuddin were also present at the show.
Among the list of films selected for screening are "Hasina: A Daughter's Tale," "Zero Degree," "Jalaler Golp," "Bapjaner Bioscope," "Krishnapaksha," "Bhuban Majhi," "Dhaka Attack," "Poramon 2," "Guerilla," "No-Dorai", and "Bhuban Majhi."
Indian High Commission launches Suborno Jayanti Scholarship website
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has formally launched the Suborno Jayanti Scholarship (SJS) website.
At the invitation of India High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami, prominent Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholars and Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) alumni joined the event Thursday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an intensified effort to share openings for education and professionalism in India, "with its brethren in Bangladesh," as an initiative for the year of golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence.
Dhaka seeks Delhi's cooperation to resolve pending issues
Bangladesh has sought India’s cooperation in resolving the outstanding issues, especially early completion of water sharing agreement of the common rivers including Teesta.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen raised this during his meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in New Delhi on Thursday.
Masud enumerated that India is the closest and most important neighbour of Bangladesh and assured his Indian counterpart that the government of Bangladesh is committed to sustaining the momentum of having a friendly relation with India which is based on mutual trust and respect.
He urged his Indian counterpart to extend necessary support to facilitate the early, safe, secure and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar.
Foreign secretary Shringla thanked his counterpart Masud for visiting him in New Delhi and emphasized on the regular interactions at the Foreign Secretary level.
He reiterated India’s commitment in working together to support each other in various platforms including the United Nations.
Read: Govt appoints GR firm “Nelson Mullins” to "deepen" Dhaka-Washington ties
Shringla noted that Bangladesh Mission in Chennai would further facilitate the relations between the two countries especially with the southern states of India.
He also emphasized on the joint celebration of events of bilateral significance as the celebrations of Moitri Dibosh (Friendship Day) in select cities across the globe could successfully project the historic relations between the two countries.
Shringla reiterated the commitment of the Government of India in fast tracking of various projects undertaken under the Indian Line of Credit in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary Masud requested the Indian Foreign Secretary to extend his support in completing Shadhinota Sharak and hand over the historic building at 8 Theatre Road, which served as the headquarters of the first Bangladesh Government in 1971, as Bangladesh is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of her independence.
Both the foreign secretaries emphasized on going back to normalcy as COVID situation improved satisfactorily.
Govt appoints GR firm “Nelson Mullins” to "deepen" Dhaka-Washington ties
Bangladesh has recently appointed a US firm for a year to work to further deepen Dhaka’s relations with Washington, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam confirmed on Thursday.
“This is just to confirm that we’ve recently appointed Nelson Mullins to maintain government to government relations. It’s a GR (government relations) firm,” he told reporters at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
Shahriar hoped that the relations between Bangladesh and the USA will be deepened and strengthened through the appointment of the GR firm in a very transparent manner.
He said the firm has been hired at a monthly pay of US$ 20,000 for its services.
The move comes after the recent US sanctions against Bangladesh’s elite law enforcement force Rapid Action Battalion and seven of its current and former officials.
Also read: Govt hired lobbyists to protect HR offenders: BNP
Shahriar said this is a public document and anybody can have access to it for further details.
While talking to a small group of reporters at his office on February 22, the state minister said they had talked to three firms and indicated to come to a decision within a week.
He also made it clear that they have enough capacity to tackle the matter - either on legal front or diplomatic front – and said the government of Bangladesh does not want to involve a third country in this process.
He said that Bangladesh and the United States would see more engagements through a number of bilateral platforms including ‘Partnership Dialogue’ in the coming months.
Earlier, Bangladesh conveyed its ‘discontent’ over the designated sanctions imposed by the US Departments of Treasury and of State on some of the present and former officials of the Rapid Action Battalion.
Also read: Appointed PR firm, not lobbyist, to change wrong perception: FM
Bangladesh says the decision was taken ‘unilaterally’ by the US Administration without any prior consultation with the government of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh also underscored the need for pursuing the pathway of dialogue, engagement and collaboration.
Dhaka urges restraint and dialogue after Russian invasion of Ukraine
Bangladesh on Thursday expressed deep concern over the recent escalation of violence in Ukraine and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomacy.
“Such violence would seriously impact the peace and stability of the whole region,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday sharing Bangladesh's position after Russian troops attacked Ukraine.
Read: Bangladesh to arrange evacuation flight from Poland after its citizens’ entry from Ukraine
The government of Bangladesh said they are also assessing the possible impacts of the crisis on the economy of the region and beyond following the deteriorating situation in the region.
Meanwhile, the government of Bangladesh asked the Bangladesh nationals in Ukraine to move to a safer location and if necessary to Poland.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been maintaining close coordination with the Embassy of Bangladesh in Poland.
Read: Ukraine seeks Indian intervention in ending Russian offensive
“We have been extending all out support to the stranded Bangladeshis there for their immediate repatriation to Bangladesh. For smooth coordination of the repatriation process, Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw has already been strengthened with additional manpower and resources,” said the MoFA, adding that all types of consular assistances are being extended free of cost.
Malaysia will take more manpower from Bangladesh, a visiting minister tells PM
Malaysia is keen to recruit more manpower from Bangladesh particularly for the plantation sector, visiting Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Zuraida Kamaruddin said on Thursday.
The Malaysian minister said this when she paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter's official residence Ganobhaban.
Zuraida Kamaruddin discussed the proposal whether workers can be recruited from Bangladesh through Government-to-Government (G2G) channel for the plantation sector, PM's Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher told reporters after the meeting.
With the proposed recruitment system, the visiting minister said they want to make sure basic rights and facilities, including decent accommodation and salary for the workers as well as to make the recruitment process easier, transparent and free of hassle and harassment.
Read: D8 has huge potential to develop as a strong economic block, says PM
They are eager to introduce a tracking system to oversee the workers, she said.
Zuraida Kamaruddin said Malaysia thinks that the existing bilateral relations between the two countries will be strengthened further.
The prime minister welcomed the proposal and hoped the bilateral relations with Malaysia would be stronger in the days to come.
The Malaysian minister lauded the PM for her successful Covid-19 pandemic management.
She hailed Sheikh Hasina as symbol of achievement for all the global women as what she said the Bangladesh leader is one of the most influential women leaders in the world.Hasina thanked the Malaysian government for extending Covid vaccination support to Bangladesh and conveyed good wishes to the Malaysian prime minister.
Read: Bangladesh calls for addressing root causes of climate-induced displacementZuraida also conveyed the greetings of the Malaysian Prime Minister to the Bangladesh Premier.
PM's Ambassador-at-large Mohammad Ziauddin, PM's Principal Secretary Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus and the Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Haznah Md Hashim were present.
Bangladesh to arrange evacuation flight from Poland after its citizens’ entry from Ukraine
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam on Thursday said the government will arrange chartered flights to bring back Bangladeshis who would leave warn-stricken Ukraine and arrive in neighbouring Poland.
“Our first task is to bring our citizens to Poland safely from Ukraine,” he told reporters at his office, adding that they have already talked to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Biman Bangladesh Airlines about the possible evacuation.
The state minister said they will finalize the modalities of evacuation from Poland and if necessary they will talk to foreign airlines too.
“They (Bangladeshis) need to come to the Polish border from Ukraine with their own arrangement,” he said, adding that the Polish government, earlier, assured of providing visas for them to cross the border which is yet to begin.
Poland will allow Bangladeshis to stay for 15 days upon their arrival from Ukraine and the government of Bangladesh hopes to repatriate its citizens much ahead of the timeline.
Shahriar said Bangladesh Embassy in Poland is taking preparations to provide accommodation facilities for Bangladeshis’ stay there until their evacuation.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw approached the Polish government on Thursday morning again to issue arrival visas urgently.
“We’re sending additional officials from our missions in Italy and Germany so that required services can be provided to Bangladeshis within the shortest possible time,” said the state minister.
Read: Ukraine says Russian army attacked from Belarus
Bangladesh on Thursday asked its nationals in Ukraine "to move to safer places" with Kyiv closing its airspace amid a Russian invasion while the country's embassy in Poland is exploring ways to give Bangladeshis shelter.
An estimated 500 Bangladeshi nationals, including students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.
Bangladesh's Embassy in Poland said that it is in touch with the host government as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka "regarding further steps to ensure the safety of Bangladeshis in Ukraine".
"Around 500 Bangladeshis are in direct touch with us. We have asked them to take shelter in safer places," Bangladesh's Ambassador to Poland Sultana Laila Hossain told UNB over the phone from Warsaw.
She said they are preparing a database which will be shared with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland as traveling to Poland would require visas.
The ambassador said they also will request the Polish government to allow Bangladeshis into the country, noting that some of the Bangladeshis might not have passports who will require travel permits.
“We’ll seek to know how to proceed considering the current situation," she said.
Asked about exact figure of Bangladeshis in Ukraine including undocumented ones, she said they were getting a number in between 1000-1500 but many moved from Ukraine already. We don’t have an accurate figure.”
The ambassador said Bangladeshis are not concentrated in a single place and those who are in touch with the embassy informed this morning about bombing and siren.
Read: Russia-Ukraine: What to know as Russia attacks Ukraine
“We had a meeting with them last night. We asked them to move to safer places with required food and money,” said the envoy.
She said they are getting updates from those who are in touch with the embassy but they are yet to establish contact with others.
However, she said that they (Bangladeshis) are encouraged to share information with each other so that others can also get in touch with the mission.
Bangladesh does not currently have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's embassy in Poland takes care of its Ukraine affairs.
On February 15, the embassy asked Bangladeshi nationals in Ukraine to consider leaving Ukraine temporarily in view of the volatile situation in that country.
Bangladeshi nationals were also advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Ukraine and keep the embassy in Poland informed about the status of their presence in Ukraine to enable the mission to reach them easily, according to an earlier advisory.
Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen".
Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of a Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected regime.