EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Miller called on Adviser on Disaster Management and Relief Farooq E Azam, Bir Prateek, at Adviser’s office in the Secretariat today. During this time, the two discussed the recent and ongoing floods in Bangladesh, forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens in Bangladesh. Michael Miller discusses in detail the recent devastating floods in Bangladesh and inquires about rehabilitation plans for the victims.

Besides, he was informed about the plans of the Bangladesh government to deal with various disasters. He discussed disaster sheltering activities, first aid, early warning systems and various priority issues. The ambassador said that the European Union has been providing full support to the forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens. In particular, the European Union has extensive involvement in shelters, non-food items, health care, food security, protection services, WASH programs, education programs and disaster risk reduction.

In order to increase this involvement, he assured another 19.5 million euros in favor of Forcibly-Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) and 35 million euros in favor of joint communities.
The adviser thanked the ambassador for the financial assistance. He said the money could be spent on infrastructure development damaged by the recent floods and sustainable shelter and protection service programs for FDMNs. He said that instructions will be given to the Economic Relations Department to take necessary measures in this regard.

The adviser also said, Rohingya is a complex problem. Repatriation is the only solution to this problem. He urged the European Union countries to pay more attention to this matter.
The Ambassador praised Bangladesh for providing shelter to the forcibly displaced citizens of Myanmar. Besides, he gratefully recalled the humanitarian contribution of the world community for the Rohingya people. At that time, the senior officials of the ministry including the secretary of the ministry Md. Kamrul Hasan were present.