Chittagong Hill Tracts: European Parliament Mission Investigates Human Rights Situation
A delegation of the sub-committee on human rights of the European Parliament will visit Bangladesh from Tuesday, 17 February 2015, to Friday, 20 February 2015. One of the focuses of the mission is the human rights situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where recent legislation has severly restricted meetings between indigenous peoples and outside organizations and people.
Below is an article published by Dhaka Tribune:
A three-member European Union Parliamentary delegation will arrive in the capital tomorrow to observe the human rights situation in Bangladesh amid the ongoing violence around the country.
“They wanted to visit Dhaka, and we facilitated the official engagement as far as possible,” said a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sent by the human rights sub-committee of the EU parliament, the delegation will visit from tomorrow [17 February 2015] until Friday [20 February 2015], he said. This is the first time the sub-committee is dispatching a team to Bangladesh.
The team will be led by Cristian Dan Preda, vice president of the sub-committee, and other members are Josef Weidenholzer and Karol Karasky.
They will meet Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin CHowdhury, Law Minister Anisul Huq and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, the official said.
They will discuss the overall human rights situation including labour rights, RMG sector, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Rohingya and other issues.
The EU embassy in Dhaka has also arranged meetings with civil society, media and think tanks for them, the official said.
The team will submit a report to the sub-committee after going back to Brussels.
Please find an earlier article regarding the recent change in legislation mentioned above here.
