Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the international community to help resolve the Rohingya crisis in the interest of the security of the region.
She made the call while speaking at the inaugural session of the ‘Dhaka Global Dialogue-2019’ at InterContinental Dhaka on Monday (Nov 11).
The prime minister said the 1.1 million Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar have posed threat not only to Bangladesh, but also to the entire region.
She said Bangladesh maintains good relations with almost all countries as it pursues the foreign policy – friendship with all, malice to none.
“We haven’t got in any row with Myanmar even after 1.1 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar. We’re trying to solve the problem amicably,” she added.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) organised the three-day dialogue, the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina described poverty as the ‘largest enemy’ of the region and said all the countries have to work together for fight it.
She said 94 percent of the people of Bangladesh now have access to electricity while internet service has reached 90 million people as the country has attained huge infrastructural development.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the main guiding principle of Bangladesh is ‘no one will be left behind’. “The suggestions to be made at the Dhaka Dialogue will help us face the future challenges,”
On Rohingya issue, he said the world community has to come forward to ensure that displaced Rohingya people return home safely and with dignity.
BIISS Director General AKM Abdur Rahman and ORF President Samir Saran also spoke at the dialogue, attended by around 150 representatives from 50 countries.