Dhaka committed to protecting human rights, FM tells UN rights chief

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Monday briefed visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet about the Bangladesh government's efforts to protect and promote human rights in the country.

Bangladesh also raised the issue of the Rohingya crisis and laid emphasis on the repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine State, Momen said.

Talking to reporters after his meeting with Bachelet at state guesthouse Padma, Momen said the UN rights chief shared their efforts to end the Rohingya crisis, reports UNB.

The foreign minister said Bachelet did not raise the issues of alleged enforced disappearances, and the Bangladesh side briefed the UN side on the issue.

Momen also briefed the UN Human Rights body chief about the "media freedom" in Bangladesh, saying that there is no restriction.

Bachelet arrived in Dhaka on Sunday morning on a four-day visit as Bangladesh continues a “constructive dialogue” with her for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Bachelet, who was elected president of Chile for two terms (2006 – 2010 and 2014 – 2018), is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday morning.

Apart from her meetings with the Cabinet Members of the government on Sunday, she will interact with the National Human Rights Commission, youth representatives, CSO leaders and the academia during her stay in Dhaka.

The top executive of the UN Human Rights body will also have the opportunity to interact with the forcibly displaced Rohingya people during her trip to Cox’s Bazar, through which she would be equipped with concrete information to press hard the agenda for their repatriation to the ancestral homeland - the Rakhine State of Myanmar, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She would also pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on August 15.

Also, Bachelet will deliver a speech at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on Wednesday.