Japanese foreign minister arrives in the capital
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono arrived in Dhaka last night on a three-day visit, which is expected to focus on the Rohingya issue.
The minister is scheduled to visit the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar today and talk to the members of Rohingya community to get an overview of the situation.
Later, he is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen in the capital.
Apart from the Rohingya issue, other matters related to further strengthening Bangladesh-Japan ties would also be discussed during the meeting between the two foreign ministers, reported BSS, quoting officials concerned.
It is expected that Kono’s Rohingya-focused visit will help expedite the ongoing efforts of commencing safe repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar, a foreign ministry official said.
The Japanese foreign minister will also visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He will leave Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, has urged Japan’s foreign minister to raise critical human rights issues during his visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar between July 29 and August 3.
Also, he should urge Myanmar to adopt all necessary measures in Rakhine State to allow the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of Rohingya refugees under international supervision to their places of origin; and ensure equal access to citizenship, freedom of movement, nondiscrimination in access to services, and access to livelihoods for returning refugees.
Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State after August 25, 2017. In clashes between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army since early this year, thousands more were displaced.
“While in Myanmar, Foreign Minister Kono should urge the government to ensure that humanitarian agencies, human rights groups, and independent media have access to Rohingyas and other at-risk minorities,” said Kanae Doi, HRW Japan director.
In a letter to the minister dated July 26, the global rights watchdog said, “Foreign Minister Kono should press the Bangladeshi government about arrests under its draconian digital security laws and online censorship that is stifling peaceful criticism and dissent.”
It said in Myanmar, Kono should urge Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to end institutionalised discrimination against the Rohingyas by amending the 1982 Citizenship Law, which facilitated gross human rights violations.
“Japan should use its international standing as a rights-respecting democracy to promote the human rights of everyone in Bangladesh and Myanmar,” Doi said.
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