UNSC delegation due on April 29

Secretariat Correspondent: A delegation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on April 29 to see the plight of internally displaced Rohingya people.

A source at the Foreign Ministry has confirmed this on Monday.

The source said Bangladesh will describe the brutalities that the Rohingya people faced in Rakhine State and steps taken by the government here to the UN Security Council delegation.

The UNSC delegation comprising envoys from five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members is scheduled to visit Rohingya camps and the zero line along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border to see the situation on the ground.

The delegation will arrive on April 29 and they will meet Rohingyas in the camps on the same day, the source said.

The UN Security Council is composed of 15 members with five permanent members -- China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and 10 non-permanent members.

The delegation members are expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and top government officials on April 30.

Earlier, Bangladesh urged the UN Security Council to undertake visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh to witness the humanitarian situation of the Rohingya amid continuous influx of the refugees.

Over 700,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh, and the influx, though reduced in recent weeks, continues despite Myanmar's assurances of stopping violence in Rakhine.

On April 6, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina invited UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit Bangladesh to see for himself the plight of Rohingyas who have taken shelter here amid persecution in Myanmar.

During the telephonic conversation, Sheikh Hasina also sought UN cooperation in implementing the agreement signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar over repartition of the Rohingyas.

Earlier, the UN Security Council has been given green lights for visits this month to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Peru's UN ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra is the council president for April.


risingbd/Dhaka/April 23, 2018/Hasan/AI