The US must collaborate with Bangladesh in peacekeeping missions

Dr. Sabera Chowdhury

(chowdhurydrsabera@gmail.com)

On May 25, a petition signed by six US senators was given to President Joe Biden on the website. The senators are Scott Perry, Bob Goode, Barry Moore, Tim Burchett, Warren Davidson, and Keith Self. All of them are Republican congressmen. The statement in the letter addressed to them is quite long. Lobbyist firms may be employed by anti-Bangladesh elements and vested quarters in the preparation of this statement. However, the German-based state broadcaster DW (Wood) and Sweden-based Netra News, the two organisations mentioned, have long been known at home and abroad as being run by anti-Bangladeshi sentiment groups in Bangladesh. With the names of these two organisations on the letter to the senators, it remains clear who is behind this. Several of their videos are trying to spread the anti-government movement on YouTube, both at home and abroad. They are also spreading misleading information about the country’s military, independence, sovereignty, etc. in the international and social media. Therefore, the six senators cited them to raise various complaints against the government, and the call by President Joe Biden to ban the members of the Bangladesh army from participating in the peace mission actually reflected the desire of Netra News. Not to be outdone, these individuals and groups are heavily involved in spending huge sums of money on influential lobbyists in the United States. By spending that money, the request that Congressmen have made to President Joe Biden may not be their greatest consolation! What the US President will do or not do, what decisions will be taken, and what will not be taken—that is the concern of the President and the entire government. Bangladesh’s elections are still 6-7 months away. Depending on how the elections go, there may be a question of not taking action against just one government. But the election is not done yet. Before that, the US administration will impose a ban on sending members of the Bangladeshi army to the UN peacekeeping mission. Perhaps President Joe Biden and institutions like the UN have not become so clueless. Bangladesh Peace Mission is still performing its duties with reputation in various African countries. The United Nations is quite happy with the activities of the Bangladesh Peace Mission; many awards have been won by the soldiers of the Bangladesh Peace Mission. Many of our members were martyred while participating in peace missions. Everyone knows this relationship; the United States is no less famous. As the upcoming elections in Bangladesh approach, lobbyists are increasing their efforts to impose some sort of sanctions on Bangladesh by the US administration. Of course, no lobbyist in the United States works for free. Bob Goode’s solidarity statement with five other congressmen highlighted another issue, i.e., geopolitics. The statement said that the way Sheikh Hasina’s government is getting closer to China and Russia is harmful to the national security interests of the United States. As a result, it is understood that, apart from the human rights situation, their concern is the closeness of this government with China and Russia. That’s right, geopolitics has changed since the start of the Ukraine-Russia war. The Western countries’ efforts to bring Ukraine into NATO have become fully exposed after Moscow’s aggression. Politically and economically, Russia, China, and US allies in the West are trying to build two different rings. In that context, Bangladesh is always trying to adhere to the foreign policy of ‘friendship with all, enmity with none’.

Following the RAB ban, six Congressmen sent a letter to the president to impose sanctions on members of the Bangladesh Army. If the letter was an ordinary letter written in the name of that vested quarter, no one was supposed to say or infer anything. But the letter went to the names of six US Congressmen, whose intelligence and political judgement are definitely not of that vested quarter. But the letter appears to have been drafted by the vested groups and sent by the lobbying firm to President Joe Biden with the signatures of congressmen. Any Bangladeshi reading the letter would think that the Congressmen do not know anything about the history of the incident. Because this letter has mentioned all the issues that occurred not after 2009 but during the 2001–06 BNP–Jamaat coalition government or even earlier. Now the Congressmen can say by whom they have been deceived. By showing the misdeeds of other eras in Sheikh Hasina’s regime, Congressmen have questioned their own status.

How did US President Joe Biden or his predecessors praise Sheikh Hasina’s regime? Surely, they have done proper research about Sheikh Hasina. But the US lobbyist-turned-congressman’s letter, provided by the lobbyist, says the exact opposite. The six congressmen who wrote the letter had never spoken about Bangladesh before. They added such false information to deceive Congressmen.

Bangladesh is widely respected in the world for establishing democracy and human rights. These unreasonable and unrealistic accusations by the Congress members are nothing but international machinations against a country like Bangladesh, which is admirable around the world for its democratic and human rights establishment.

At the end of 2022, Bangladesh received the highest number of votes in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the next 2023–2025 term. This is a significant achievement for Bangladesh. The representatives of 160 countries supported Bangladesh’s bid to become a member of the Human Rights Council, which is very significant in the country’s diplomatic history. Being elected as a member of the Human Rights Council with the highest number of votes is an expression of the international community’s recognition of Bangladesh’s continued efforts and commitment to the development and protection of human rights at the national and international levels. Bangladesh’s victory negates efforts by Congress members to spread false information and propaganda to portray Bangladesh’s human rights situation in a negative light to the world. The victory with a large number of votes is a great honour for Bangladesh and a relief for the Awami League government. The United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, voted in this regard. 189 of the 193 member states of the United Nations voted. Apart from Bangladesh, the Maldives, Vietnam, and Kyrgyzstan were selected from this region. Bangladesh has been elected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the fifth time. Bangladesh was previously elected as a member of this organisation of 47 members of the United Nations in 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government’s humanitarian actions in various fields, including the Rohingya issue, have won widespread praise around the world. While many countries in the world, under the banner of human rights, stop only crying for the Rohingya victims of human rights violations, Bangladesh has sheltered those 11 lakh Rohingya.

The latest report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights did not raise any concerns about Bangladesh. On the contrary, the incident of sheltering the minority Rohingya who fled to escape from the genocide and persecution of the military forces in Myanmar has also been highlighted. Through this, the humanity shown by Bangladesh in sheltering the endangered Rohingyas has been highlighted as a unique example in the international arena, including at the United Nations. In a densely populated country like Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has set a great example in protecting human rights by showing this courage. UN peacekeeping at 75: Bangladeshi Blue Helmets are contributing to world peace.

They have earned Bangladesh worldwide reputation, political and diplomatic mileage, and reputation amongst the UN and other global actors. Since its sanguine birth in 1971, by breaking the shackles of oppression and discrimination, Bangladesh has bearded the olive leaf to promote peace and stability both at the domestic and international levels. The United States has appreciated the “courage and dedication” of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers who promote peace around the world, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on May 29.

Thus, imposing sanctions on the forces would be very illogical. To make the Bangladesh peacekeeping front more active and robust, the Bangladeshi government, the USA as a world power, and the UN should play a more collaborative role, providing Bangladeshi peacekeepers with the opportunity to utilise excellent training facilities and equipping them with advanced weaponry to uphold the international image, glory, and prestige of Bangladesh in its contribution to world peace and global stability. Instead of ban thinking, the US should and must collaborate with Bangladesh in continuing successful peacekeeping missions. One of Bangladesh’s most important strategic military partners is the United States. Defence cooperation between the United States and Bangladesh is growing day by day. Regular joint exercises are performed, particularly in the Bay of Bengal. The United States Pacific Command engages the Bangladesh Armed Forces on a regular basis. The US also assisted in the formation of the Bangladesh Navy’s elite SWADS marine unit, which is fashioned after American and South Korean special forces.

Bangladesh is the largest donor to UN peacekeeping operations in the world. Bangladeshi peacekeeping missions have greatly benefited from the sponsorship of the United States.

US security aid to Bangladesh has improved maritime security, freedom of navigation, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities. These funds have been used to purchase patrol boats for the Bangladesh Army, additional patrol vessels for the Navy, international peacekeeping and border security missions, electronic and mechanical upgrades to the Bangladesh Navy’s fast patrol boats and former US Coast Guard cutters, technical and professional training for Bangladesh military and Coast Guard personnel, and joint military exercises. This assistance has helped Bangladesh significantly in its efforts to improve its marine domain knowledge and control.