Rohingya issue to be taken to ICJ, Gambian FM tells PM

Gambian foreign minister Mamadou Tangara calls on prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganabhaban residence on Friday morning. Photo: PID
Gambian foreign minister Mamadou Tangara calls on prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganabhaban residence on Friday morning. Photo: PID

Visiting Gambian foreign minister Mamadou Tangara expressed his country’s commitment to continuing its support to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and take the matter to the International Court of Justice on Friday.

“We’ll continue our cooperation to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and take it (matter) to the International Court of Justice as it is a humanitarian one,” he said.
The Gambian foreign minister made the remarks when he paid a courtesy call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganabhaban residence on Friday morning.
PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.
Mamadou highly praised prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s dynamic leadership for tremendous uplift of Bangladesh, especially in women development and empowerment.
He handed over a letter of the Gambian president to prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Gambian foreign minister informed the prime minister of the meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart and signing of a Foreign Office Protocol.
“We are keen to have cooperation in the field of science and technology,” he said.
Sheikh Hasina recalled her long struggle for restoration of democracy in Bangladesh after returning home from her six-year exile on this day in 1981 after being elected as the president of Bangladesh Awami League.
She said that all of her family members including Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were assassinated on 15 August, 1975, but she and her younger sister escaped the massacre as they were abroad.
“After returning home, it was a long journey to establish democracy in the country. We’re now trying our best to uplift the condition of the country’s people,” she said.
In this context, the premier mentioned that the poverty level has been brought down to 21 per cent while the country is going to achieve 8.13 per cent GDP growth in the current fiscal year thanks to various pragmatic steps of her government.
“We have given our complete thrust on the development of the rural people,” she added.
The prime minister said that the government is setting up 100 economic zones across the country aimed at ensuring the country’s industrial development and generating employment.
Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, PM’s international affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi and principal secretary Md Nojibur Rahman were present on the occasion, among others.