Dhaka, Sep 11: A five-member delegation of the European Parliament will visit Bangladesh from September 16-18 to assess political reforms and the human rights situation in the country, local media reported on Thursday.
According to a statement by the EU mission in Dhaka, the delegation includes Arkadiusz Mularczyk (ECR, Poland), Urmas Paet (Renew Europe, Estonia), Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, France), Isabel Wiseler-Lima (EPP, Luxembourg), and Catarina Vieira (Greens/EFA, Netherlands). The team will hold meetings with Bangladesh’s interim government representatives and civil society leaders to discuss the human rights dimension of EU-Bangladesh relations. They are also scheduled to visit Rohingya refugee camps and interact with NGOs, labour representatives, and multilateral organisations working on the ground.
The visit comes at a time of heightened international concern following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. Since the takeover by the interim administration under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, rights groups have reported alarming levels of violence, particularly targeting minorities, including Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and indigenous peoples.
Earlier this week in Geneva, at the 60th Session of the Human Rights Council, Rahman Khalilur Mamun of the International Forum for Secular Bangladesh highlighted continuing communal violence and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators. He appealed for greater international support to protect secularism, minority rights, and democratic freedoms in Bangladesh.
A recent report, One Year of Anarchy: Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh Under the Interim Government, documented 637 mob lynchings, 47 extrajudicial killings, and 21 custodial deaths of political detainees linked to the Awami League. It further recorded 2,442 incidents of minority persecution, including 27 killings, 20 rapes, and the burning of 17 churches on Christmas 2024.
The EU delegation’s visit is expected to shed light on these abuses and push for stronger accountability measures.
