UN High Commissioner for Human Rights arrives in Dhaka

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Dhaka on four-day visit on Sunday morning, as Bangladesh looks forward to having a constructive dialogue for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen received Bachelet at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 10:20am.

She was originally scheduled to arrive at 9am but the flight was delayed, a senior official told UNB.Bachelet, who was elected president of Chile on two occasions (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 including Foreign Minister Momen on Sunday, she will interact with the National Human Rights Commission, youth representatives, leaders of civil society organizations (CSOs), and the academia during her stay in Dhaka.

She would also pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Monday.Also, Bachelet is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

Bangladesh hopes to benefit from an objective appreciation of the high commissioner regarding the achievements of the country, despite challenges.

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 on the agenda for the repatriation of the Rohingya community to Myanmar, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Bangladesh has been closely working with the UN in the field of human rights and this visit would be an important occasion to highlight Bangladesh’s national perspective and the government’s sincere efforts, including updating the domestic legal framework, creating awareness and sensitizing the implementing agencies, the ministry said.

This is indeed important that the national context, in particular the economic development amidst the pandemic and other evolving crises, the maintenance of peace and security of the people, and constraints like the Rohingya crisis and the adverse effect of climate change, are taken into due consideration in assessing the human rights situation of the country, it said.

The visiting UN high commissioner remains well aware of the plethora of achievements of Bangladesh in the human rights domain, including the treaty-body reporting as well as through other mechanisms, Bangladesh says.Bangladesh hoped that the chief of UN human rights mechanism would witness how the country is doing miracles to keep on track of its development journey and integrate human rights into it.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, no one in the country has died of starvation, said the government.

Dhaka Tribune