Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday morning left here for the United Kingdom en route to New York to attend the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). A VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:35am. Read: UNGA: PM to highlight importance of multilateralism, resolving global issues through discussions The flight is scheduled to land at London Stansted International Airport at 4:45 pm local time. Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Saida Muna Tasneem will receive her at the airport.    Sheikh Hasina will leave London for New York immediately after joining the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on September 19. She will stay in the USA till October 02. During her stay in the UK, Secretary General of Commonwealth Patricia Scotland, UK Minister for South Asia and North Africa Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer will also pay courtesy calls on her separately. Besides, the Bangladesh PM will attend a reception to be hosted by the King of the United Kingdom at Buckingham Palace for the Heads of the States or the governments. Sheikh Hasina will fly off London for New York in the evening of September 19 and her flight is scheduled to land at the JFK International Airport on the same day. She will join the opening session of the UNGA debate on September 20 and will address the 77th UN general assembly on September 23 (between 4:30pm and 5:30pm local time) in the United Nations headquarters in New York. While in New York, she will also hold talks with a number of leaders and attend different high-level events from September 20 to 24. On September 20, Hasina is scheduled to attend the reception to be hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the opening session of 77th UNGA debate, the reception to be hosted by US president Joe Biden and an event titled ‘the UNGA Platform of Women Leaders.’ Read: New horizon opened: PM says about her India visit She will have separate meetings with Slovenian President Borut Pahor and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee Filippo Grandi on the same day. On September 21, the PM will join a high-level event on sustainable housing (which will be co-hosted by Bangladesh, Botswana, Slovak Republic and UN Habitat) and Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) Champions’ Meeting, and open a photo exhibition on Padma Bridge at the UNHQs. She will have separate bilateral meetings with Kosovo President Dr Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu and Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso Mendoza on the same day. Besides, WEF Executive Director Professor Schwab Klaus and UN Under-Secretary-General (USG, OHRLLS) Rabab Fatima will separately pay courtesy calls on Sheikh Hasina on September 21.      On September 22, the Bangladesh premier is scheduled to join a breakfast meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), high-level event on Rohingya issue and a high level policy roundtable with the US-Bangladesh joint business council. She will have a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and two separate meetings with IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino, and ICC prosecutors Nick Klegg and Karim Khan on the same day. Read:Didn’t return empty-handed: PM on her India visit On September 23, the Prime Minister will deliver her address at the 77th UNGA general debate.      Besides, she will join a civic reception accorded to her by the expatriate Bangladeshis on September 24.    Then she will leave New York for Washington DC and will stay there till October 02. PM Hasina is scheduled to return home in the early hours of October 04 after a short stopover in London on her way from Washington.

President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Volkan Bozkir on Wednesday said the General Assembly has not forgotten the Rohingya people. "To the people I met, I will uphold my promise to share your stories back in New York," he tweeted after visiting Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar district. The UNGA President said, "I came face to face with resilience today in Cox’s Bazar. We often speak about the Rohingya in UNGA - but today I spoke with them." Read: Rohingyas rights to return, citizenship must be respected: UNGA President Earlier on Tuesday, he said basic rights, including to citizenship, and the creation of conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of all Rohingyas must be respected. “The safety and security of the Rohingya and other minorities must be secured,” he said while delivering his keynote speech at the Sixth Lecture of the Bangabandhu Lecture Series at Foreign Service Academy. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also spoke at the programme titled “Bangabandhu, Bangladesh and the United Nations.” State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, among others, were present. Bozkir said he firmly believes they cannot speak on these issues from afar. “The United Nations must continue to reach out to the people we serve.” Turning to the issue of human rights and humanitarian action, he commended Bangladesh for offering shelter and protection to the Rohingya fleeing persecution and unspeakable crimes in Rakhine State. Bozkir mentioned that Bangladesh stepped up at a moment of crisis to uphold the principles of the United Nations when most vulnerable neighbours endured their darkest hour. “Please allow me, on behalf of the United Nations General Assembly, to thank you. History will define your actions as heroic,” he said. Read: Bhasan Char to become another example to world: UNGA President