The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, former President Michelle Bachelet, arrived in Bangladesh to address the situation in Rohingya refugee camps. The visit, which will last three days, takes place in the context of numerous complaints of human rights violations by the Bangladeshi government, especially referring to the forced disappearance of people who make up that ethnic group.
It was reported that former President Bachelet landed in Dhaka, being officially received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, AK Abdul Momen. Likewise, a meeting is announced with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and others with members of the National Human Rights Commission and some NGOs. The visit, the first by a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has not been without controversy due to the criticism raised by the Bangladeshi government of the “politicization” of the visit.
“The politicization of the human rights agenda never helps to promote and protect the rights of the people, on the contrary, sincere dialogue and cooperation are the way forward,” the government reported in a statement, in which it also stated expresses a categorical rejection of attempts to “present the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as an opportunity to exert undue pressure on the government.”
Bachelet’s visit comes amid reports of the disappearance of some 600 Rohingya people, according to Human Rights Watch. Many of them were critical of the ruling Awami League coalition. One of the activities contemplated by the UN High Commissioner is a visit to the Rohingya refugee camps, where more than 900,000 people who fled Burma currently reside, whose government has been accused of genocide.
