Bangladesh expects Johnson to announce lifting of UK ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka

Bangladesh expects the UK to end the ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka when British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will come here to see the plight of Rohingya people.

He is arriving on Friday afternoon in a Qatar Airways flight on his maiden visit and will go to Cox’s Bazar on Saturday.

He will also meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali during the two-day trip.

Two senior officials at the foreign affairs and civil aviation ministries told bdnews24.com they were expecting an announcement on ending the direct cargo flight ban imposed on Bangladesh in March 2016.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks out of Downing Street in London, January 23, 2018. Reuters

The UK suspended those flights from Shahjalal International Airport on security grounds. Bangladesh later hired a British company to improve the security mechanism.

“Things are agreed [to lift the ban],” a senior official who cannot be named told bdnews24.com. “But at the last moment we have been told that it’ll be delayed due to internal bureaucratic issues at their [UK] end”.

“Still we are expecting that he may make an announcement,” the official said.

There is no assessment on the economic impacts of the ban. But officials said it costs businesses both money and time.

“We have to get our cargos scanned in another airport before they enter the UK,” said a civil aviation official.

David Miliband was the last British foreign secretary to visit Dhaka, in 2008.

Foreign Minister Ali in a briefing on Thursday said they are welcoming the visit as it is coming after a long gap. Bangladesh has close ties with the UK, he said.

He also acknowledged Britain’s role in the UN Security Council on the Rohingya crisis.

The British government, MPs of the House of Commons, political parties and the people have raised a strong voice against the oppression on the Rohingya people by Myanmar military and pursued the issue within the Security Council. 

The UK has also extended £59 million assistance since Aug 25 last year, the day the Myanmar military began a crackdown in the Rakhine State that resulted in nearly 700,000 Rohingyas crossing the border into Bangladesh.

Issues of bilateral cooperation, next Commonwealth Summit to be held in London in early 2018, and Brexit would also be discussed during the visit.

The 52-year-old former London mayor had campaigned for Britain to leave the EU. A Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, he was appointed foreign secretary on July 13, 2016.