PM Hasina leaves for UN General Assembly with proposals to end Rohingya crisis

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left for New York where she is expected to highlight her response to the Rohingya crisis, at the UN General Assembly.

She is also expected to present Bangladesh's proposals to end the Rohingya crisis, at the UN General Assembly or UNGA.

Bangladesh has given shelter to over 700,000 Myanmar nationals who fled ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State since Aug 25 last year.

A special Biman Bangladesh flight carrying Hasina left Dhaka at around 10:23 am on Friday for London en route to New York to join the 73rd Session of the UNGA.

The prime minister is leading the 50-member Bangladesh delegation and a 200-member delegation of businessmen has also been accompanying her.

The Rohingya issue comes on top, followed by global peace and peacekeeping activities and sustainable development goals or SDGs, particularly in health and education.

Besides, the prime minister will attend 12 different high-level meetings, including two business events, on the sidelines of the summit.

The theme of this year’s UN summit is “making the UN relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”.

The prime minister placed five proposals during the last UN summit.

One of that was the implementation of the Kofi Annan commission report which was agreed upon by all, including Myanmar’s allies in the UN Security Council -- China and Russia.

During her speech to the General Assembly on Sep 27, she will make some specific recommendations in line with the previous proposals.

Among the top level meetings, the prime minister will attend the ‘global call of action on drug problem’, to be hosted by US President Donald Trump, on Sep 24.

Hasina will attend the high-level event on the global compact on refugees, Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, high-level event on international finance for education, and leaders’ dialogue hosted by the Canadian prime minister, said a Reuters report.

She will also join high-level events on action for peacekeeping and cyber security where her son and ICT affairs adviser Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed will join her.