Bangladesh invites UN chief to Bangabandhu’s birth centenary celebrations in New York

Bangladesh has invited UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to attend the celebration programmes of the 100th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence next year in New York.

The Bangladesh Permanent Mission in the UN headquarters will hold a host of events.

The foreign ministry said Minister AK Abdul Momen invited the UN chief to attend those events during a meeting in New York.

They also discussed the ongoing Rohingya issue.

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, termed as “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by the UN.

Guterres expressed “deep concern” over the issue and said he has put his “highest efforts” in resolving the crisis.

Momen sought strong support from the UN and the international community for commencing safe repatriation of Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh soon.

They discussed some particular issues regarding the UN and international community’s efforts in finding a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis.

The UN chief expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for providing humanitarian support to forcefully displaced Rohingyas.

The foreign minister also held a meeting with New York State Senator Luis Sepulveda at Bangladesh permanent mission at the UN.

Luis expressed his keen interest to arrange a Bangladesh visit for a delegation of US senators.

Momen welcomed the US senators to visit Bangladesh and sought their support in creating more international pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis.