The Crime Desk: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has arrived in Dhaka after a two-day visit.
On Monday (October 28), when he arrived in Dhaka, Turk was welcomed at the airport by Director General and Spokesperson of the United Nations Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Toufiq Hasan.
The officials of the ministry said that Volker Turk’s two-day visit to Dhaka, the chief adviser of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, along with 6 to 7 advisers, the chief justice, the army chief, representatives of the anti-discrimination student movement, and representatives of civil society, will meet. Elections, human rights, and security issues will be prioritized in these meetings.
Apart from this, the opening of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bangladesh will also be discussed during this visit of the Turk.
Both sides have agreed in principle to open the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Dhaka. There may be a detailed discussion in this regard during Turk’s visit.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka say that this visit of the UN human rights chief is very important after the change of Bangladesh’s status on August 5. Human rights, security, and election issues will be important in this visit.
Human rights issues include investigations by UN fact-finding missions. The interim government seeks UN support in security and electoral reform.
The United Nations is also ready to help. But how cooperation can be in any format is supposed to be presented at the discussion table during Turk’s visit to Dhaka.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turk was supposed to visit Dhaka in the second week of last September. However, the visit was delayed due to non-coordination in the schedules of both parties.
Interim government chief adviser Dr. on the sidelines of the United Nations General Session in September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had a courtesy meeting with Muhammad Yunus.
