The United States (US) will not stop sending aid for the Rohingya people living in Bangladesh, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said.
Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus expressed his gratitude towards US President Donald Trump for this decision.
Shafiqul said: “US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended all US foreign assistance programs for the next 90 days through an executive order after taking office. However, assistance for the Rohingya who have taken refuge in Bangladesh will continue.”
The press secretary was speaking at a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy auditorium on Sunday afternoon.
At the briefing, Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, Apurba Jahangir, assured that USAID's food assistance for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh would continue without interruption.
He also mentioned that Khalilur Rahman, the special representative of the chief adviser, visited the US Embassy in Dhaka and expressed his gratitude.
Shafiqul Alam further announced that the government plans to host a large-scale international conference on the Rohingya crisis later this year, with 170 countries expected to participate. The United Nations will serve as the co-host of the conference.
Commenting on the chief adviser’s recent visit to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Shafiqul described it as "a historic visit," highlighting that Dr Yunus attended at least 47 events during the summit.
Extrajudicial killings by RAB
Addressing concerns over human rights violations during previous regime, Shafiqul said the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance estimates that around 3,500 extrajudicial killings have been committed by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the last 15 years.
According to the commission's information, the number of extrajudicial killings by RAB could be 3,500. The names of more than 1,700 victims of extrajudicial killings have already been recorded, he said.
The interim government formed the commission to search for missing persons from 2009 to 2024.
In 15 years, 1,676 complaints of disappearances were registered with the commission on enforced disappearances. The commission reviewed 758 complaints. The highest number of disappearances occurred in 2016 was 130.
There were sporadic cases of political disappearances during the tenure of various subsequent governments, enforced disappearances became a hot topic again during the Awami League government in 2009.
At the briefing, in response to journalists' questions about the former home minister's interview with the Indian media, Shafiqul said that former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal is the butcher of Bangladesh.
He said: "He (Asaduzzaman) is one of the butchers responsible for the ruthless killings of children, students, workers, and rickshaw pullers in Bangladesh. His credibility is reflected in the standards of those who offer him a platform and those who report his statements."