Review travel advisory, lift air cargo ban: Bangladesh to Australia

Bangladesh has urged Australia to review the travel advisory on it following the Holey Artisan terror attack and lift the air cargo restrictions.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also asked Australia to resume the visa office at Australian High Commission in Dhaka which is currently in New Delhi.

He made those requests in a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne in Dhaka, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

Payne is on a three-day visit to Bangladesh to attend third IORA Blue Economy Ministerial Conference that ended on Thursday.

The foreign ministry said she assured Momen that Australia will follow up on these requests and report back.

Australia issued travel advisory after the July 1, 2017 terrorist attack in an upscale cafe in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

Momen said the advisory be reviewed in light of growing business interactions and people-to-people contact between the countries.

He said the air cargo restrictions should be lifted in light of meeting of aviation security standards at Dhaka airport.

They also discussed the Rohingya issue.

Momen expressed his gratitude to the visiting minister for reaffirming their support for the repatriation of the forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals.

Before coming to Bangladesh, Payne visited Myanmar to assess the circumstance in Myanmar with regard to repatriation.

Payne said Australia will remain engaged with international community to put pressure on Myanmar to create conducive environment towards safe and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya.

Momen said the Rohingya are fearful of going back to Rakhine state because of trust deficit and underlined the importance of early repatriation of the Rohingyas under international observation.

The Australian foreign minister said she so far read reports on Rohingya crisis and to realise the real circumstance and ground situation she visited Cox's Bazar Rohingya camp.

She said Australia will continue its communication with Myanmar for solution of the Rohingya crisis and will increase its humanitarian assistance for the displaced people through NGOs and UN agencies.

She appreciated economic development of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and said Australia is willing to grow its relations with Bangladesh with greater engagement.

The two foreign ministers pledged to work together to promote peace, stability and prosperity in Indian Ocean region.

Momen invited Australian investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Bangladesh.