Govt issues corrective statement about discussion with Europa team

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a joint corrective statement yesterday regarding controversy over State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam's statement after a meeting with the three-member delegation of the Sub-committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament on February 18.

After the meeting, the state minister told the media, "The delegation did not express any concern over the human rights situation in Bangladesh."

On February 19 the foreign ministry issued the following corrective statement:

"Following some initial media reports, the visiting Members of the European Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify that Human Rights were the main subject of the one-hour meeting held on 18 February.

Labour rights but also civil and political rights, and sufferings of the ordinary citizens in the current climate of violence were highlighted by the Members of the European Parliament as the focus of their visit to Bangladesh."