Garments, Rohingyas figure in Kerry-Moni talks

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Garments, Rohingyas figure in Kerry-Moni talks
Lovlu Ansar, New York Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-05-18 04:30:40.0 Updated: 2013-05-18 04:35:39.0

Garments, Rohingyas figure in Kerry-Moni talks - bdnews24.com

Issues related to Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry and migration of Rohingyas figured prominently during talks between foreign Minister Dipu Moni and US Secretary of State John Kerry at Washington on Friday.

“We’re looking forward to more cooperation in all areas of our common concern, both bilaterally and also at multilateral levels," Dipu Moni said after the meeting.

She said Kerry has been invited to visit Bangladesh and the US Secretary of State has said he will try to come soon.

This is the first meeting between the two after John Kerry took over as the Secretary of State in January.

Addressing the media jointly, Kerry said the US was prepared to help in any way possible for those affected by Cyclone 'Mahasen'.

He expressed grief over the death of more than 1,100 people in the Rana Plaza collapse.

“We hope that this will be able to help all of us cooperate on the issue of labour safety and workers’ rights,” Kerry said.

But he did neither confirm nor deny reports that the US was considering to put an end to the GSP for Bangladesh's garment industry.

About the Rohingya issue, Kerry said: “The Rohingya is really a problem that comes from Burma, from Myanmar … And it creates tensions, and it’s a difficult issue.”

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni corrected him as he mistook the number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh as 30,000. Moni said 30,000 Rohingyas are registered, but there are many more of them.

According to government estimates, there are over 500,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The government claims these refugees are involved in various acts of violence in Bangladesh.

Moni has argued that Bangladesh should not be pushed to accept more Rohingyas, as it was itself an over-populated nation with scarce resources.

Rather, she has said, Myanmar should be pressurised to accept the Rohingyas as its citizens so that the beleaguered minority does not feel it necessary to migrate from Myanmar.

It was however not clear whether Kerry was prepared to push Myanmar on the Rohingya issue.

 

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Readout of Secretary Kerry's Meeting With Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni

Secretary of State Kerry and Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs Dipu Moni met today at the U.S. Department of State. The Secretary highlighted the strong cooperation between our two countries on a broad range of issues and welcomed the second annual Partnership Dialogue that will take place in Dhaka next week, including a Private Sector Forum to further enhance our strong bilateral trade relationship with Bangladesh.

Secretary Kerry expressed our condolences for the tragedy at Rana Plaza and urged rapid progress both on fire and building safety inspection issues and on quick passage of labor law amendments. He also noted the importance of the war crimes trials in the International Crimes Tribunal being conducted in a fair, transparent manner in accordance with international standards.

Readout of Secretary Kerry's Meeting With Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni

Remarks With Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon. I’m very happy to welcome Foreign Minister Dipu Moni from Bangladesh. And let me begin by expressing all of our gratitude that Bangladesh did not get the worst of the tropical storm Mahasen, but it still got hit, and we are prepared to be as helpful as we can in any way that we can in order to relieve the suffering of people.
And speaking of suffering, the Rana Plaza collapsed, which cost more than 1,000 lives. Everybody in America shared the agony of those losses, and our hearts go out to the families. We hope that this will be able to help all of us cooperate on the issue of labor and labor standards and workers and workers’ rights, obviously. We know you want to work hard to cooperate on that, and there are a number of initiatives we have.

We look forward to our dialogue, our partnership dialogue that will take place in Dhaka in about a week or so. And this is a very important step in working on presidential initiatives, including climate change and food security, among others. And these are important initiatives for both of us.

We also appreciate the difficulties you face with the issue of the Rohingya refugees. The Rohingya is really a problem that comes from Burma, from Myanmar. And the problem is that maybe 30,000 or more are --

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: Registered refugees.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- registered refugees in Bangladesh. And it creates tensions, and it’s a difficult issue.

So we have a lot to talk about. We want to see Bangladesh continue to move forward, as it is working to on a number of different issues of labor and labor standards. But I am very, very happy to welcome the Foreign Minister here. We’ve worked together on a number of critical initiatives, and we look forward to a good meeting.

Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: I’m very happy to be here. And as Secretary Kerry mentioned, we have a lot of things to discuss. And I believe that the U.S.-Bangladesh relationship is at its best now. And we’re looking forward to more cooperation in all areas of our common concern, both bilaterally and also at the multinational level.

And there’s a lot of admirers of Secretary Kerry in Bangladesh, so I also hope that Secretary Kerry would come to Bangladesh for a visit soon.

Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: I would like to. Thank you. Thank you very much.

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: Thank you.

Video embedded here: Remarks With Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni Before Their Meeting

What does Mr. Kerry mean by 'tensions' and 'difficult issue' regarding Rohingyas? Is there any possible agenda there?