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LAW event

Urge to adopt national law on refugee protection

UTTAM KUMAR DAS
A request has been made to Bangladesh Government to accede to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and adopt national legislation on asylum and refugee issues. Considering the geopolitical situation of the country the government should initiate this. It is concluded that as early it could be done it would be better for the country.
This recommendation was made in the closing ceremony of a daylong workshop on Refugee Law organized by Bangladesh Bar Council (BBC) with support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Mr. Christopher Beng Cha Lee, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh was the chief guest on the programme and distributed certificates among the participants. Among others Advocate Mr. Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Chairman,
Executive Committee of BBC, Advocate P. C. Guhah of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and member of the EC of BBC spoke on the occasion while Advocate Mr. Z. I. Khan Panna, Chairman, Human Rights and Legal Aid Committee, BBC presided over it. Among the participants Mohammad Tarik Haider, Deputy Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Nomun of the Navy spoke on the occasion.
Mr. Lee urged the Government of Bangladesh to ensure humanitarian treatment to the foreigners, especially to the asylum seekers and refugees in the country. He said that Article 31 of Constitution of Bangladesh ensures basic human rights also for the refugees. Bangladesh is also under obligation to ensure basic human rights for the refugees as party to major human rights instruments. However, unfortunately, the freedoms of movements of the refugees in camps are restricted. They are not even
allowed to carry money by the officials. The refugee children are also deprived of proper education in the camps.
The UNHCR Representative observed that good treatment to foreigners here in Bangladesh could facilitate to have good treatment for Bangladeshi citizens who are around 5 million in other countries.
"There are some Bangladeshis abroad who are in this irregular status and refugee like situation. The positive attitude of the Government of Bangladesh in dealing with foreigners here would provide a moral and logical ground to bargain with other governments who host Bangladeshis," Mr. Lee said. According to him acceding to the Convention could be one of the positive steps.
Advocate Z. I. Khan Panna referring to the incident of 10 million Bangladeshis to take refuge in India during the liberation war in 1971 urged the policy makers and government officials to look into the maters of the refugees in the country with a humanitarian approach.
The Workshop was facilitated by Ms. Naima Haider, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Dhaka, Dr. Naim Ahmed, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, National Protection Officer, UNHCR Bangladesh. The programme was attended by 30 lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, government officials, and members from the Navy and Air Force.
As part of UNHCR's promotional activities on Refugee Law, the BBC organized the workshop.
The writer is National Protection Officer, UNHCR Bangladesh.