Chief Adviser (CA) Professor Muhammad Yunus on Thursday held a meeting with the chiefs of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at a hotel in New York.

The CA’s Press Wing informing the matter to media said High Commissioner of the UN refugee agency Filippo Grandi discussed the Rohingya crisis with the Chief Adviser.

Grandi called for a new approach to the crisis, saying that the international communities should do more to end the miseries of more than one million Rohingya in the camps in Bangladesh.

Grandi said the assumption of Professor Yunus as the new leader of Bangladesh has increased global interest in the Rohingya crisis, and he hopes there will be more funding for the Rohingya humanitarian responses.

“The 700 million dollars from the World Bank is a good starting point," he said, adding the UN stands ready to support more for the education of the Rohingya children.

Professor Yunus stressed the need for finding a quick solution to the crisis and doing more for the future of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children growing up in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

"We have to resolve this before it is too late. We have to find a solution," the Chief Adviser said.

Gilbert Houngbo, the Director General of the International Labour Organisation, also called on the Chief Adviser at a hotel later on Thursday.

Houngbo offered the UN labour agency's support for the Interim Government's move to implement ILO conventions in Bangladesh.

“We are at your disposal," he said, adding the ILO would respond to his call "if and when" he needed it.

The Chief Adviser said labour reforms are a top priority of his government, as it sees the issue as a key to turning Bangladesh into a world class manufacturing hub.

“We are very serious about this," Professor Yunus said, adding addressing labour issues would draw more foreign direct investment in Bangladesh.

BDST: 1312 HRS, SEPT 27, 2024
MUM/MSK