Bangladesh will maintain support both for its immense Rohingya refugee population and its vital garment trade, Nobel laureate and new leader Muhammad Yunus said in his first major policy address.
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.
“We won’t tolerate any attempt to disrupt the global clothing supply chain, in which we are a key player,” Yunus said.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85% of its $55 billion in annual exports.
“We want an impartial and internationally credible investigation into the massacre,” Yunus said on Sunday.
“We will provide whatever support the UN investigators need.”
Yunus again committed to holding free and fair elections “as soon as we can complete our mandate to carry out vital reforms in our election commission, judiciary, civil administration, security forces, and media”.
“The Sheikh Hasina dictatorship destroyed every institution of the country,” he said.
He added that his administration would “make sincere efforts to promote national reconciliation”.
