Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad Karim has suggested creating trade space for Bangladesh to help it face the ongoing Rohingya crisis, reports UNB. Dr Karim, also Trade Chief, was reporting back to the International Trade (INTA) Committee within the European Parliament on its delegation's last week's visit to Dhaka. He earlier stated his concern at the extra burden placed on the Bangladeshi government with the huge influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar. Dr Karim said: "Bangladesh is clearly at this moment under a huge burden with the refugee crisis from Myanmar, which means that of course they at some stage are going to have to start looking very carefully at what trade tools they

have available to us to see how they can best encourage Myanmar to do the right thing, so to speak.” Speaking in Brussels during the meeting, the British MEP said, “I do take on board the very recent developments that have taken place in the country, which have placed extra burdens on the government of Bangladesh, and indeed the people of Bangladesh, very directly through the Rohingya crisis that has unfolded.”

He said it has unfolded at a huge magnitude under a very short space of time. “So I’m firmly of the belief that we should try to create trade space for Bangladesh - if at all possible - to try and provide some extra means of help for Bangladesh to cope with this immediate situation that it is facing.”

“How we do that I don’t know yet, but I’m sure so many experienced colleagues within the Parliament will have a number of ideas. I’ve some and we can certainly work towards that,” he added. Dr Karim also expressed his support for Bangladesh to graduate from the status of a Least Developed Country (LDC), which Bangladesh wishes to achieve by 2021, according to a message UNB received from Brussels yesterday.

“The government has given this very open pledge to the people of Bangladesh that this [graduation from LDC] is what they’ll be seeking to achieve by 2021, so we’ve to find a means whereby they can fulfill their part of the pledge, whilst also not undoing the legal and procedural basis upon which they get access to our markets.”