DHAKA, Dec 9, 2024, 2024 (BSS) – Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today called upon the European Union (EU) to relocate its visa centres for Bangladeshis from Delhi to Dhaka or to any other neighbouring country.

He made the call when a 19-member EU delegation, led by Michael Miller, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, met him at the Chief Adviser's Office in Tejgaon here.

During the meeting, chief adviser said as India has restricted visas for Bangladeshis, many students are unable to go to Delhi to get visas for EU countries. 

As a result, he said, uncertainty has arisen about their educational careers, while universities in Europe are not getting Bangladeshi students. 

“If the visa office is shifted to Dhaka or any neighbouring country, both Bangladesh and the European Union will be benefitted,” he added.

As many as 15 EU diplomats presented their views in the meeting that lasted for two and half hours. 

During the meeting, they discussed the commitments and actions of both sides in labour rights, trade facilitation, climate change, human rights, the International Crime Tribunal Act, Rohingya repatriation and building a sustainable future.

“We are celebrating victory throughout the month of December. I am very happy to participate in such an interactive discussion with you in the month of Victory,” Prof Yunus said.

Paying tribute to the martyrs and injured in the July-August uprising, he briefly outlined the oppression, exploitation, enforced disappearances, and human rights violations over the past 16 years of the Awami regime.

The chief adviser focused how corruption and money laundering affected the banking system in Bangladesh.

Mentioning that misinformation is being spread against Bangladesh on a large scale, Prof Yunus sought EU’s cooperation in stopping the misinformation.

He said Dictator Sheikh Hasina and her associates, who were forced to flee the country in the July uprising, are trying to destabilize the country with the huge amount of money they laundered.

The chief advisor also mentioned about the exchange of views with representatives of different political parties and religious communities of Bangladesh held aiming to forge a national unity and maintaining communal harmony.

He also briefed the EU representatives in detail about the interim government’s reforms and election process.

Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain, who participated the meeting said Bulgaria has already shifted its visa centre for Bangladeshis to Indonesia and Vietnam. He urged other countries to follow the same process.

The EU representatives expressed their full support to the chief adviser in the reform process and vowed to stand by him in the goal of building a new Bangladesh by providing advice and recommendations.