DHAKA: Bangladesh is focusing on strengthening diplomatic efforts to deal with the Rohingya refugee crisis.
The Bangladeshi envoys of 72 missions serving around the world have been summoned to Dhaka for an envoy conference to be held at the end of November, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh confirmed to Arab News.
Dhaka is expecting the foreign ministers of China, Japan, Germany, and Sweden to arrive ahead of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Naypyadaw, Myanmar. Two US Senate members are also scheduled to be in Dhaka by Friday midnight for the meeting.
“Bangladesh needs to address the issue through ‘two track diplomacy’ — one is bilateral discussion and the other is international. We need to keep the pressure on the Myanmar government by the international community,” Ambassador Rashed Ahmed Chowdhury told Arab News.
“With this envoy conference, we can strengthen our effort to sensitize the international community on this issue. It will be tough to handle the issue by only focusing on bilateral diplomacy,” the envoy said.
“Through this conference, the ambassadors and high commissioners will get the opportunity to share experiences from the field and to receive directives from the government,” said Ambassador Munshi Faej Ahmed, the chairman of the Bangladesh International Institute of Strategic Studies (BIISS).
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmud Ali is scheduled to visit Myanmar on Nov. 19 to attend the ASEM foreign ministers' meeting. At that time, he is expected to have bilateral talks with Myanmar's state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We expect that in this dialogue both parties will be able to sign an MOU to start the [refugee] repatriation process," said Ambassador Faej to Arab News.
While Dhaka is preparing to strengthen its international efforts to keep maximum international pressure on Myanmar through the envoy conference, some US senators are visiting Dhaka on Nov. 18-19.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Willstrom, European Commission's Federica Mogherini, and US Senators Jeff Markley and Richmond Durbin represent their countries and organizations to witness the plight of Rohingya refugees in the camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Focusing on the high-profile visit of the foreign delegates, Ambassador Rashed said: “It’s an international crisis and we need to solve it with the support of international community.”