Staff Reporter:
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke has reiterated that the United Kingdom will con-tinue its support for Rohingya refugees displaced from Myanmar.
She said this during a courtesy call on Salahuddin Ahmed at his office at Bangladesh Secretariat yester-day, according to a press release.
During the meeting, the minister said four issues are particularly important for socio-economic devel-opment of Rohingyas. These issues are- security of the camps, skill development of the refugees, repatri-ation, and controlling drugs and other crimes in the camps.
“We are working on these issues,” he said.
The UK envoy agreed with Bangladesh’s position and noted that the Rohingya crisis is regularly dis-cussed at the United Nations Security Council to keep the issue in focus of the international community.
She added that the UK also supports the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar, but stressed that the pro-cess must be safe and voluntary.
The meeting also discussed various issues of mutual interests between the two countries, including law and order and security cooperation, the Rohingya crisis, police reform, illegal and irregular migration, counter-terrorism efforts and intelligence sharing.
The home minister thanked the British High Commissioner for congratulating him on assuming office of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).
The minister also sought the UK’s cooperation in police reform.
Both sides agreed to enhance intelligence sharing and cooperation on extradition matters.
They also pledged to work together to combat terrorism.
During the meeting, the British envoy informed that a meeting between the home ministers of the two countries is expected to be held on the sidelines of the Global Fraud Summit, hosted by UNODC and INTERPOL in Vienna on March 16–17.
Rebeka Khan, Joint Secretary of MoHA, Tim Duckett, Political Counsellor at the British High Commis-sion in Dhaka, Ryan Duncanson, Counsellor for Justice and Home Affairs, and Abdul Wahid, Interna-tional Liaison and Migration Officer were present.
