United Nations secretary general Ant贸nio Guterres, who arrived in Dhaka Thursday afternoon on a four-day visit to Bangladesh, is scheduled to visit Cox鈥檚 Bazar Rohingya camps today.
Ant贸nio Guterres is expected to join an Iftar party with Rohingyas at a Cox鈥檚 Bazar camp to be arranged on behalf of the chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. 聽
鈥楾he UN secretary general is visiting Bangladesh as part of his Ramadan solidarity visit,鈥� foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam told reporters at the ministry on Thursday.
Guterres鈥檚 visit would revitalise diminishing humanitarian support for Rohingyas and strengthen international cooperation for an acceptable solution to the protracted crisis, he added.
鈥榃e are exploring all ways for the repatriation of Rohingyas and hope to get a positive outcome soon,鈥� said Rafiqul, also director general of the public diplomacy wing.
He, however, admitted that there was no progress in the return of the displaced people from Myanmar since the 2017 influx of Rohingyas amid a military crackdown on them in the Rakhine state.
On Friday, foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain and High Representative of the Chief Adviser on Rohingya issue and priority matters Khalilur Rahman will call on Guterres at a hotel in Dhaka at 9:00am.
Later, the UN chief will meet the chief adviser at the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office at 10:00am.
After the meeting, Guterres will travel to Cox鈥檚 Bazar on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines commercial flight to visit the Rohingya camps.
In Cox鈥檚 Bazar, the chief adviser will join Guterres later on the day for an Iftar with around one lakh Rohingyas.
The two leaders would interact with Rohingyas and their community leaders during the visit, according to officials.聽
Guterres is scheduled to return to Dhaka in the evening.
On Saturday, the UN secretary general will visit the UN Common Premises in Dhaka, where he will raise the UN official flag, observe a photo exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh-UN relations, and attend a meeting with UN officials, according to officials.
In the afternoon, he will join a roundtable discussion on Bangladesh鈥檚 reform process at the InterContinental Hotel.
He is also expected to participate in a dialogue with youths and meet with members of civil society.
聽On Sunday, Guterres will depart Dhaka at 9:55am by an Emirates flight.
Bangladesh continues efforts to send back Rohingyas to their homeland Myanmar without any progress so far, with the number of displaced people sheltered in Bangladesh camps now standing at 1.3 million.
The number of Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh camps is increasing with an average new births of 30,000 every year, according to the government data.