Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said Bangladesh will remain alert about any Afghan-trained terrorists though they were "identified and uprooted.”
"We'll surely remain alert. We don't want it again," he told reporters and reiterated that there is no scope for Bangladesh to give temporary shelter to people from Afghanistan as requested by the US.
Asked what will be Bangladesh’s position if other Saarc countries give shelter to Afghan people, Dr Momen said they need to see the situation on the ground first before commenting.
On Monday night, the foreign minister told UNB that Bangladesh has turned down a request from the US to give temporary shelter to some people from Afghanistan saying Bangladesh is already in a big problem by giving shelter to over 1.1 million Rohingyas.
The request came from diplomatic channels both from Washington and in Dhaka.
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The foreign minister said getting the request means that the US has confidence on Bangladesh and that is a positive sign but Bangladesh is unable to accept it.
Dr Momen said the US is a friendly country to Bangladesh and conveyed to them that Bangladesh is already facing many problems by giving shelter to the Rohingyas.
“Don’t put us into further trouble,” he said, mentioning what Bangladesh conveyed to the US side after receiving the request.
The US side first reached out to the Bangladesh Ambassador in Washington with the request which was later conveyed to Dhaka.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh wanted to know the name of the countries that the US requested for giving people from Afghanistan a temporary shelter and how many in numbers. “No specific reply was found.”
He said the Rohingyas came to Bangladesh almost four years ago but no Rohingya was repatriated. "There is no violence in Rakhine for the last few years. They should go back."
Dr Momen said Bangladesh wants the development of all countries in Saarc including the development of Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Momen said Bangladesh will welcome the new government in Afghanistan if it is a government that is supported by its people.
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“We believe in people’s government. We believe in a government which is liked by its people. We believe in democratic government,” he said, adding that Bangladesh’s door will surely remain open if the Taliban government becomes a government supported by its people.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh believes in friendship to all countries and Bangladesh will extend support if any government seeks support from Bangladesh.
He said Afghanistan is a friendly country to Bangladesh and a member state of Saarc. “Bangladesh wants their [Afghanistan] development.”
Responding to a question, Dr Momen said there were some terrorists in Bangladesh who were trained in Afghanistan. “We’ve uprooted them and there’s no scope to see their reemergence here.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, said Bangladesh is carefully observing the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan, which, Bangladesh believes, may have an impact on the region and beyond.
"We urge all stakeholders in Afghanistan to maintain peace and calm ensuring safety and security of all including foreign nationals," said the ministry in a statement.
