Govt yet to hold any talks with UN on humanitarian corridor: Alam

Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser on Tuesday categorically said that the interim government has not yet discussed the issue of the humanitarian corridor with the United Nations (UN) or any other entity.

“We want to make it clear that we didn’t discuss the so-called humanitarian corridor with the UN or any other entity,” he said over reports about the UN humanitarian corridor to Rakhine State of Myanmar through Cox's Bazar.

Alam said, “Our position is that, should there be an UN-led humanitarian support to the state of Rakhine, Bangladesh would be willing to provide logistics support.”

According to UNDP, he said the Rakhine state is facing an acute humanitarian situation.

Bangladesh has a stellar record of helping countries in times of distress, as exemplified by “our aid to Myanmar” following the recent devastating earthquake, he added.

“Moreover, we are concerned that persistence of suffering may lead to further inflows of people from Rakhine into Bangladesh, which we cannot afford,” the press secretary warned.

He said the interim government also believes that the UN-supported humanitarian aid would help stabilise Rakhine and create conditions for the return of the refugees to Myanmar.

Given the present conditions, he said, the only viable route for delivery of aid to Rakhine is through Bangladesh.

Bangladesh agrees in principle to provide logistics support to the transportation of aid through this route, he added.

“However, there has not been a decision on the provision of aid to Rakhine. We are in touch with the concerned parties in this regard. In due course, we will consult relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh,” Alam said.

He said as regards the reports of involvement of a major power, “these are pure and unadulterated propaganda”.

“We have seen a constant barrage of malicious disinformation spread against Bangladesh in recent months, which is continuing. This sort of propaganda is no different,” the press secretary said.

Earlier on Monday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, while addressing a programme in Thakurgaon, said that they cannot let the country turn into a sorry state like Gaza by giving humanitarian passage to the civilians of Rakhine state of Myanmar.

He also criticised the government for its move in this regard and said it must hold talks with the country’s political parties before taking such a decision.