Guterres arrives to assess progress of Rohingyas repatriation

Publish: 11:27 AM, July 1, 2018 | Update: 11:27 AM, July 1, 2018

DHAKA – United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived here early this morning to assess progress towards a safe, voluntary and dignified return of Rohingyas.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali received the UN chief when he arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a Qatar Airways flight (QR 638) at 2:06am.

The UN chief along with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, who arrived here on Saturday, will jointly meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 11 am at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Sunday, a foreign office told BSS.

The Secretary General is also scheduled to attend a session on 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda at the Prime Minister Office. From the PMO, Guterres will go to Dhanmondi to visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, the official said.

The Secretary General is also scheduled to meet the United Nations and World Bank Country Team in Bangladesh at Radisson Hotel in the afternoon.

After that he will join a dinner, hosted by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the city. The UN chief will leave for Cox’s Bazar by a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines to visit the Rohingya camp on Monday.

Foreign Minister Ali, WB President and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, among others, will accompany him.

Guterres will visit Kutupalang camp and women-friendly space there. He is scheduled to back Dhaka on the same day and scheduled to brief media in the evening. The UN Secretary General will leave Dhaka at 12.40 am on Monday night.