Bangladesh’s Yunus reassures on Rohingya refugees, garment exports
- Yunus also committed to free and fair elections ‘within a few months’ and will work towards promoting national reconciliation
Bangladesh will maintain support both for its immense Rohingya refugee population and its vital garment trade, Nobel laureate and new leader Muhammad Yunus said Sunday in his first major policy address.
Yunus, 84, returned from Europe this month after a student-led revolution to take up the monumental task of steering democratic reforms in a country torn by institutional decay.
His predecessor Sheikh Hasina, 76, had suddenly fled the country days earlier by helicopter after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.
Setting out his priorities in front of diplomats and UN representatives, Yunus vowed continuity on two of the biggest policy challenges of his caretaker administration.
“Our government will continue to support the million-plus Rohingya people sheltered in Bangladesh,” Yunus said.
“We need the sustained efforts of the international community for Rohingya humanitarian operations and their eventual repatriation to their homeland, Myanmar, with safety, dignity and full rights,” he added.
