Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said 28 crew members of Bangladeshi ship “Banglar Samriddhi” will soon return home as they have safely crossed the border leaving war-ravaged Ukraine.
“They’ll soon return to Bangladesh,” he told reporters at a programme held in the Jatiya Press Club.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Poland Sultana Laila Hossain said the 28 crew members were on the way to Romania from Moldova and scheduled to reach there within few hours.
The government has made necessary arrangements for their return as their relatives are eagerly waiting to get reunited at home.
Earlier, the crew had been taken to a relatively safe place from the ship that came under attack leaving its third engineer dead on Wednesday.
The Foreign Minister, however, could not tell about the progress over bringing back the body of Engineer Hadisur Rahman who was killed during a rocket attack on the ship.
Expressing deep condolences to the near and dear ones of deceased Hadisur Rahman, the Russian Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday said the Russian side “bends every effort” to ensure safe departure of the Bangladeshi ship from the port.
The Command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, relying on the objective monitoring data, has repeatedly stated that, during the retreat, the Ukrainian nationalists open indiscriminate fire and deliberately capture hostages, use them as a “human shield”, resorting to the well-known terrorists’ tactic, said the Embassy.
The BSC ship was positioned in the inner anchorage of Olvia port (Ukraine), when Hadisur was killed due to a missile attack.
28 Bangladeshi crew to return home soon: FM
“The circumstances of the incident are being established,” said the embassy.
Regarding the video posted by five Bangladeshis, he said the government is scrutinising their statements to know the facts and their position.
“We came to know about them through watching the video. We’ve talked to our Ambassador who is in charge. We’re trying to get their information and securitising their statements as they claimed they are kept forcibly there by the Ukrainian government as human shield,” Dr Momen said.
Not war, want peace
Asked whether there is any change in Bangladesh’s position regarding Ukraine issue, the Foreign Minister said the position remains unchanged. “We want peace and discussion through diplomatic means to resolve (the issue).”
He said if there is any instability anywhere, Bangladesh like other countries will face difficulties.
Bangladesh was one of the 35 countries which abstained from voting on a resolution at the UN General Assembly recently.
Asked why Bangladesh did abstain from voting, the Foreign Minister defended the position saying Bangladesh wants peace and does not want war.
Bangladesh said it is deeply concerned over the recent escalation of violence in Ukraine and such violence would seriously impact the peace and stability of the whole region.
Bangladesh also urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, cessation of hostilities and endeavour to resolve this crisis through returning to diplomacy and dialogue.
The Foreign Minister also said they are discussing with India continuously and they are helping Bangladesh.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is the biggest promoter of peace in the world and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman always promoted peace.
Source: United News of Bangladesh