The US under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights and US special coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon on a four-day visit after concluding her visit to India.
Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen received Uzra Zeya, accompanied by assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Donald Lu, among others, at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 6:40pm.
She came to Dhaka concluding her three-day visit to India.
‘Foreign secretary Amb Masud Bin Momen welcomed US Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya today, 11 July 2023. She is on her maiden 3-day visit to Bangladesh. She is scheduled to hold various meetings at government and private levels and visit the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar,’ the Bangladesh foreign ministry tweeted at around 7:15pm.
In Bangladesh, she would meet with senior officials to discuss shared humanitarian concerns, including free and fair elections, Rohingya crisis, labour issues, human rights and trafficking in persons, said a statement issued by the US State Department on July 7.
The US State Department on July 7 announced that Uzra Zeya would visit India and Bangladesh in July 8-14.
‘Many issues like human rights, trade, labour rights, and Rohingya may come up in discussions during the US under-secretary’s visit. Elections may also be discussed,’ foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters on July 6.
During his first visit to Bangladesh in January, Lu conveyed to the government that the United States wanted the next general election in Bangladesh to be held in a free and fair manner.
On May 24, US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced a new visa policy to support Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections, restricting visas for any Bangladeshi individual undermining the democratic election process.
Under the new policy, the United States will be able to restrict the issuance of visas to any Bangladeshi individual, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
