At a hotel in New York, USA, on Thursday, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus met with the leaders of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Rohingya problem was deliberated by Chief Adviser and UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi.
In order to put an end to the suffering of over a million Rohingyas living in camps in Bangladesh, Grandi urged for a new strategy to be applied to the situation.
He said that considerable attention has been paid to the Rohingya situation worldwide since Prof. Yunus became Bangladesh’s new leader. He expressed the expectation that more money will be available for humanitarian efforts to aid the Rohingya.
“The World Bank’s 700 million dollars is a good starting point,” he stated, adding that the UN is prepared to provide more funding for the Rohingya children’s education.
Professor Yunus emphasized the need to act quickly to resolve the situation and to improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya youngsters living in Bangladeshi refugee camps.
“This needs to be resolved before it’s too late. We must come up with a solution,” he declared.
Later on Thursday, Chief Adviser Gilbert Houngbo, the Director General of ILO, also paid him a visit at a hotel.
Houngbo extended the assistance of the UN labor agency to the Interim Government’s efforts to bring ILO conventions to Bangladesh. “We are available to you,” he stated, adding that the ILO would answer his call “when and if” he required help.
According to the Chief Adviser, labor reforms are his government’s top priority since they believe that solving this problem is essential to making Bangladesh a global center for manufacturing.
Prof. Yunus declared, “We are very serious about this,” and added that resolving labor concerns will increase foreign direct investment in Bangladesh.
