Partnership with Bangladesh is “gaining positive momentum,” the European Union has said, as expatriates have challenged a letter by six members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on the country's human rights situation.
In the letter sent to High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on June 12, MEPs Ivan Štefanec (EPP, Slovak Republic), Michaela Šojdrová (EPP, Czech Republic), Andrey Kovatchev (EPP, Bulgaria), Karen Melchior (Renew, Denmark), Javier Nart (Renew, Spain) and Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland) expressed concerns about the human rights situation in Bangladesh and urged him to take action for restoring democracy in the country.
After that, 321 Bangladeshi expatriates living in Europe, including scientists, teachers, researchers, journalists, businessmen, employees and various professions, expressed concern on behalf of "Bangladesh Civil Society in Europe.”
They said the letter had been written on the basis of “false information,” describing it as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of Bangladesh in the world.
The expatriates sent their letter of protest on June 29 to those MEPs and the vice president of the EU Parliament, Joseph Borrell.
In response to that letter, Rensje Teerink, the head of the EU delegation to Bangladesh at European External Action Service, wrote on behalf of Borrel to the coordinator of Bangladesh Civil Society in Europe, Dr Mazharul Islam Rana.
She said the concerns of the civil society of Bangladesh about the letter sent by six MEPs on the situation in Bangladesh had been noted duly.
She also noted the request to withdraw the letter.
However, she mentioned that it was beyond her scope to interfere with any letter sent by members of the European Parliament and that they had the full democratic right to write letters on any subject they found necessary.
As regards the situation in Bangladesh, she reassured them that the EU-Bangladesh “partnership is gaining positive momentum.”
She further mentioned that the European Union had deepened its cooperation with Bangladesh in a number of areas.
On human rights and other priorities of Bangladesh, she stressed that the European Union and its member states would continue to engage closely with the government and civil society in Bangladesh.
Content of expatriates' letter
The Bangladeshi citizens in their letter said: “Six MEPs have no experience with the politics and contemporary situation of Bangladesh. They purposefully wrote the letter to tarnish the image of Bangladesh without being a member of the EU Parliament's delegation for relations with South Asian countries.”
They added that the BNP-Jamaat-led coalition participated in the 11th general election in 2018 and won several seats.
Allegations of “midnight elections” are in fact rumours and misinformation, which have never been substantiated, according to the letter.
