The prime minister arrived at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport around 4pm local time on Sunday. Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Mohammad Ziauddin and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Masud Bin Momen were present to greet the prime minister.
Bangladeshi expatriates greeted Hasina at the airport and chanted slogans in support. Others gathered at Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt Hotel to greet the prime minister.
Hasina’s address to the UNGA is scheduled for Sept 21.
Her speech will focus on Myanmar’s military crackdown in Rakhine state, which has led to some 400,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing across the border to Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.
The UN has estimated that as many as 1 million Rohingya refugees could make the crossing into Bangladesh in the coming months if the Rakhine situation is not resolved.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take immediate action to stop the crackdown.
"If she does not reverse the situation now, then I think the tragedy will be absolutely horrible, and unfortunately then I don't see how this can be reversed in the future," he told the BBC.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has called the situation a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’.
Myanmar began the latest military operation in Rakhine state after deadly militant attacks on 30 police check posts and a military base on Aug 25. It says the operation is not targeting civilians.