The United Nations has reiterated that they are always ready to assist governments anywhere including in Bangladesh who may request help with different issues.
“And we see how we can best do that,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General told reporters in a regular media briefing in New York on 31 July.
In terms of independent investigations, he said, that would require, as in any of these cases, mandate from a legislative body of this organization.
The spokesman said governments, whether in Bangladesh or anywhere else, need to protect the rights of people to protest peacefully and protect the right of journalists to do their job in a free and unfettered manner.
He said they have “condemned” the use of live fire ammunition that they have seen in Bangladesh.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the United Nations and any country can send their experts for the proper investigation of every incident of the recent violence related to the quota reform movement.
“I want everything to be investigated. Because, it needs to be found out what happened behind it and how these happened. I’ve appealed to the United Nations to send their experts. If any other country wants, they can send their experts too,” she said while addressing a voluntary blood donation programme, discussion and doa mahfil.
Earlier, the UN spokesman said despite the political situation and the violence, it is important to remind everyone that there are humanitarian crises ongoing in Bangladesh.
“We and our partners continue to provide support the people impacted by a number of emergencies — including Cyclone Remal — which has impacted 13 million people across Bangladesh this year,” he said while reading out a statement.
The spokesman said their partners continue their work despite operational challenges — which includes obviously internet outages, bank closures and curfews.
“Last month, we and our partners launched the $80 million Humanitarian Response Plan to support 1.2 million people,” he said.
The appeal is currently only 18 per cent funded. On 5 June, $7.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund was made available to support the response to the cyclone, while an additional $6.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund was released on 4 July, to allow for cash payments to communities in the Jamuna Basin.
“And of course, there is also a massive humanitarian operation on Cox’s Bazaar for refugees from Myanmar and to support the host communities,” Dujarric said.
