United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal, in association with Art Bangla Foundation and Siddharth Art Gallery,  organized a five-day art festival in Nepal. It was participated by ten renowned artists from Bangladesh and Nepal. Their artworks were displayed in a gallery from May 7-10. The Bangladeshi artists are Rafiqun Nabi, Monirul Islam, Mohammad Eunus, Kanak Chanpa Chakma and Md. Iqbal. The Nepalese artists included Kiran Manandhar, Shashi Shah, Krishna Manandhar and Vijay Thapa. The artists participated in a daylong art camp on May 6 on the Embassy premises, said the Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal on Saturday. They also took part in a lively art talk at Nepal Academy of Fine Arts.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Trade Representative, Paul Thoppil, will arrive in Dhaka on a three-day visit beginning on Sunday. While in Bangladesh, he will meet with officials and key partners to promote Canada’s commitment to the region through its Indo-Pacific Strategy. He will discuss to identify ways to expand and diversify trade between Bangladesh and Canada and explore how the two countries can work together to foster two-way investment, according to Canadian High Commission in Dhaka. On September 5, 2023, Canada announced the appointment of Paul Thoppil as the first Canadian Indo-Pacific trade representative, which will facilitate and promote the implementation of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy as it relates to trade, investment, and supply chain resilience.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has invited Spanish investment in special economic zones (SEZs) and hi-tech parks in Bangladesh availing various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for mutual benefit. Highlighting the contributions of Bangladesh’s sixty thousand expatriates to the economies of both Bangladesh and Spain, the Foreign Minister suggested that the two countries may consider concluding a bilateral instrument for legal migration of professionals and skilled workers from Bangladesh to Spain. Hasan also underscored the ample opportunity of emboldening cultural exchange and cooperation between the two friendly countries. The issues were discussed when Ambassador of Spain to Bangladesh Gabriel Sistiaga Ochoa de Chinchetru had his maiden courtesy meeting with the Foreign Minister on Thursday. Hasan congratulated Gabriel Chinchetru for his appointment as the Ambassador of Spain to Bangladesh and hoped that bilateral relations between our two friendly countries would be further strengthened during his tour of duty in Dhaka. The Foreign Minister expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Spain and thanked Spain for being the second largest destination of Bangladesh’s merchandise exports as well as the second largest host of Bangladesh Diaspora in the European Union (EU). The Spanish Ambassador stated that concluding a bilateral instrument on migration and mobility between Bangladesh and Spain in line with the spirit of EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum would be beneficial for both the countries. He also assured to expand business and investment as well as cultural ties between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ambassador also met Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen. They discussed the potential to broaden cooperation and harness mutual capacities in areas like bilateral commodity trade as well as orderly and skilled migration and mobility from Bangladesh to Spain.

Bangladesh and the United Kingdom have held their first ever Joint Working Group meeting on Home Affairs in London at the British Home Office and signed the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Returns. British Minister for Countering Illegal Migration James Tomlinson-Mynors KC, and Bangladesh High Commissioner in the UK Saida Muna Tasneem opened the JWG meeting on Thursday and witnessed the signing of the SOPs between the two countries. The Bangladesh-UK SOPs on Returns is a successor to the earlier signed Bangladesh-EU SOPs of 2017, the procedure that used to be followed before UK’s exit from the EU for returning Bangladeshi overstayers from the UK., said a press release here on Friday. High commissioner Muna Tasneem recalled the genesis of the value-driven diplomatic relations between the two Commonwealth countries based on the historic friendship between Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and UK’s Conservative Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath. Reaffirming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s zero tolerance stance against irregular migration, she said Bangladesh High Commission London in collaboration with UK Home Office has been returning certain numbers of undocumented Bangladeshis for more than a decade. That is why the number of undocumented Bangladeshis in the UK is minimal at this moment, and the Bangladesh Home Office would work closely with the British Home Office with support from the High Commission, said the envoy. The good news is that Bangladesh is not even within the top ten countries in terms of numbers of undocumented nationals, and yet we needed to formalize this MoU with the post-Brexit UK, she said. Apart from signing of the SOPs, the Joint Working Group on Home Affairs discussed opportunities of orderly migration including skilled and high talent migration from Bangladesh to the UK, opened avenues for discussion on mutual legal assistance, extradition, transnational crimes and countering terrorism and extremism, as well as capacity building of Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies. The Joint Working Group meeting was led by Khairul Kabir Menon, Additional Secretary, Security Services Division, Ministry of Home Affairs from Bangladesh side, and Bas Javid, Director General of Immigration Enforcement, Home office from the UK side. Senior representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Bangladesh, Bangladesh Police and the Special Branch, as well as representatives from Bangladesh High Commission London participated at the meeting.

The United States has said the sanctions imposed against Bangladesh's elite force RAB are not being withdrawn. "Those claims are false. The U.S. is not withdrawing sanctions against the RAB," said Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the US Department of State Vedant Patel. Donald Lu highlights importance of adaptation; protection of coastal people In a regular briefing at the US Department of State, he said sanctions are intended to change "behaviour and promote accountability". Nobody from the government of Bangladesh claimed that the US is withdrawing the sanctions. "The issue is with the US Department of Justice which is independent and separate from the White House and the State Department. They work independently," PM's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman told reporters earlier on Tuesday night in Dhaka. Salman said the White House and the US Department of State are in favour of lifting sanctions on the RAB but it depends on the Department of Justice. Donald Lu in Dhaka to "strengthen bilateral cooperation" with Bangladesh "The issue is moving through a process," Salman said after his discussion over dinner with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu who on a three-day visit here last week. In January 2023, Donald Lu appreciated the “tremendous progress” made by Rab in “respecting human rights” while performing its duties. Donald Lu’s visit: Dhaka’s call for withdrawing sanctions may come up for discussion, says Hasan Mahmud “We had quite a good discussion about the Rab. If you have seen the statement this week by the Human Rights Watch, they recognised and we recognised tremendous progress in the area of reducing extra judicial killings by the Rab,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time. “This is amazing work. It shows that Rab is able to carry out its important counterterrorism and law enforcement function while respecting human rights,” Lu added.

The government has appointed Major General Syed Tareq Hussain as the new ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait. A decorated high official of Bangladesh Army, Major General Tareq was commissioned in 1989, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. During his military career, he has served in various staff, instructional and command appointments. New ambassadors-designate from 7 countries present credentials to Bangladesh President  Just before being deputed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was serving as Senior Directing Staff of National Defense College. His major assignments throughout the career include Commandant of Bangladesh Ordinance Factory, GOC of 19 Infantry Division and Commander of 81 and 72 Infantry Brigades. Major General Tareq had also the distinct honour of serving in United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in Angola and Côte d'Ivoire. New ambassador to Bhutan calls on president for guidance Major General Tareq had the unique opportunity to obtain graduate degrees from some of the most prestigious military institutions across the globe; namely Defence Services Command and Staff College in Mirpur, Bangladesh, Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, India and US Army War College in Pennsylvania. He also obtained three post-graduation degrees- Masters in Defence Studies from National University of Bangladesh, Masters in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University, India and Masters in Strategic Studies from US Army War College. Bangladesh’s new ambassador to Sweden meets President Hamid

Congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her reelection, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he looks forward to working with PM Hasina to strengthen their bilateral relationship and together contribute to regional peace, prosperity and security. “As Indian Ocean nations, we share an interest in a region that is grounded in sovereignty, promotes the prosperity and security of our citizens, and addresses the threat of climate change," he said in a letter written to PM Hasina. The Australian PM highlighted the importance of their partnership in promoting "peace, prosperity and security" in the Indian Ocean. He affirmed his support for growing bilateral and regional cooperation between Australia and Bangladesh. “We have many common interests in increasing our trade and investment, promoting human rights, cooperating on people smuggling and addressing the Rohingya issue,” Albanese wrote. He, on behalf of the government and people of Australia, congratulated Sheikh Hasina on her reelection as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Awami League President and daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina took oath as the prime minister for the historic fifth time as well as her consecutive fourth term in January this year.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan urged Turkey to invest in Bangladesh’s tourism sector saying that it guarantees the best investment environment in South Asia. The minister made this call when Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen met him at the Secretariat on Thursday. The minister said that the labour cost in Bangladesh is quite reasonable compared to other countries. “Besides, we have a large internal market of huge possibilities. Turkish investors will be given all kinds of support if they invest in this potential tourism industry. Investors will benefit from investing tourism industry and tourism infrastructure,” he added. The friendly relation between Bangladesh and Turkey i very old and these two countries have a lot of opportunities to do jointly in this industry, Khan said. As Turkey has long experience in tourism industry management, Faruk Khan sought its help to provide training to the workers in Bangladesh’s tourism industry. Tourism can be especially considered in the scholarships that the Turkish government offers to students every year to study various subjects, he added.

Members of the civil society, human rights advocates, and leaders from minority communities have expressed shock and dismay at what they termed the United States’s “over-reliance” on dubious sources in its most recent human rights report. Critics are particularly alarmed by the US report’s seeming endorsement of political freedoms for Jamaat-e-Islami, an entity they say has consistently opposed the foundational values of Bangladesh and, prior to the last election, explicitly aimed to establish Sharia law in the country. Haroon Habib, a distinguished rights activist heading a national coalition of war heroes, criticized the US for its apparent support for Jamaat, which continues to honour individuals involved in wartime atrocities. “Advocacy for such a group demonstrates a profound hypocrisy in the US approach to human rights,” stated Habib. He also pointed out the lack of US recognition for the genocide during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, despite acknowledgment from numerous international entities including the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. US calls for continued support to Rohingyas, host communities in Bangladesh This omission, according to Habib, starkly contradicts the Biden administration’s proclaimed commitment to upholding human rights globally. The report’s glaring omission of violent incidents, such as arson attacks on public transportation and brutal killings of law enforcement officers, reportedly orchestrated by BNP-Jamaat activists under the directives of Tarique Rahman, has also drawn severe criticism. Rahman, the acting chief of BNP, who is currently residing in the UK and has been convicted on multiple charges including money laundering, was also noted for inciting street violence months before the national election, urging followers to “decide the fate of the country on the streets” rather than through democratic means. Adding to the controversy, the US report neglects significant allegations against Odhikar, a local human rights organization. Odhikar’s leadership, including Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan, had been previously criticized for producing a report deemed biased and flawed following violent events in Dhaka in 2013, described by a mainstream English newspaper as a “composition of half-truths, biased and one-sided presentation of what happened on May 5 and in the early hours of May 6 in the capital.” Bangladesh, UK discuss ways to strengthen health sector cooperation Shahriar Kabir, a renowned Bangladeshi journalist and human rights activist, recounted his interactions with American policy experts at a meeting organized by the Atlantic Council. Kabir observed a disconnect between the US policymakers’ perceptions and the realities in Bangladesh. “It seemed that there was a considerable lack of awareness about the scale of Jamaat’s atrocities,” Kabir noted, expressing frustration over the US’s tendency to equate Jamaat with legitimate democratic political parties. Rana Dasgupta, another vocal rights activist and leader from the minority community, sharply questioned the integrity of the US report, criticizing its dependence on “biased sources” that misrepresent Bangladesh. “Such citations attempt to lend credibility to sources that are fundamentally flawed, thereby undermining the overall credibility of the US itself,” Dasgupta added.  

Ambassador Jeffrey Prescott, the US Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, has called on the international community to continue its support to the Rohingya refugees and their Bangladeshi host communities for a crisis that shows no signs of abating. He made the call after a week-long mission in Bangladesh, visiting projects of the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “It is humbling to witness the unimaginable scale of this crisis and the concerted efforts by the Government and humanitarian partners in response,” Ambassador Prescott said. “Many of the programmes we visited are designed not just to alleviate immediate hardships but also to extend impact beyond the camps, playing a critical role in building the resilience of host communities. The United States is fully committed to supporting our partners on the ground, and we call on others to also step up and join us.” Committed to working with Bangladesh, partners to continue support for Rohingyas, Bangladeshis impacted by crisis: Ambassador Prescott The United States is the single largest donor to the ongoing refugee crisis in Bangladesh, committing US$2.4 billion since August 2017, of which nearly US$2 billion has been provided for Rohingyas and host communities. Some of the challenges the Ambassador witnessed first-hand include the poor living conditions in the camps and continued restrictions on movement and job opportunities. The camps are highly susceptible to hazards such as fires and climate shocks such as floods and cyclones, which deepen the population’s vulnerability each time they strike, according to WFP. In addition, in 2023, humanitarian assistance was scaled back for the first time due to a lack of funding, resulting in cuts in food rations. The Ambassador invited a team of international and local journalists to join the trip. Together, they witnessed the work of the three agencies on the ground, including WFP’s food assistance to the nearly one million Rohingya people. In an upcycling centre in the camps, they observed how vulnerable Rohingya men and women are trained to repurpose wrappings of nutrition products into useful products, including seedling bags for vegetable gardening. In the Cox’s Bazar community, the delegation observed how WFP and FAO are collaborating to enhance the livelihoods of local communities by sourcing fresh produce for WFP’s food distribution in the camps. At a primary school, they learned about the comprehensive support provided by both agencies in school feeding, health, literacy, and gardening. The school feeding programme in Bangladesh has been generously funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program for nearly two decades. They also visited a crab hatchery financed by IFAD as part of its long-lasting solutions to develop climate-resilient, local food production and value chains for poor, rural, small-scale farmers. At the Rohingya Culture and Memory Centre, Rohingya artists and volunteers curated a poignant exhibition for the delegation, showcasing the rich cultural heritage and identity of the Rohingya people. Rohingyas are not looking to stay forever in Bangladesh: Amy Pope "We are delighted that Ambassador Prescott had the chance to meet the Bangladeshi rural women and men and hear from them how our investment and support have helped them build better lives and livelihoods,” said Arnoud Hameleers, IFAD Country Director. Dr Jiaoqun Shi, FAO Representative said they showed the Ambassador and the delegation some of their major initiatives in Cox’s Bazar, particularly in the areas of homestead gardening, aggregation centres, and tree plantation sites. “We eagerly anticipate continued collaboration with USAID and our sister UN agencies to further expand our interventions in food and agriculture in Bangladesh,” Shi said. Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director said while the situation remains precarious in the camps, they are fortunate to have the steadfast support of the United States and the rest of the international community. “Starting in June, we will increase the ration again partially, from US$10 to US$11. We thank Ambassador Prescott for choosing Bangladesh for his first field mission and the media for shedding light on the urgent needs and resilience of the Rohingya and their host communities,” said Dom Scalpelli.