UN, US, UK slam violence in Bangladesh

The UN, US, and UK have condemned the violence during last week's students' protests that left at least 150 people dead.

They also expressed worry over the impacts of the current situation on the economy and the people of Bangladesh.

"We condemn all recent acts of violence in Bangladesh and reiterate our unwavering support for peaceful assembly," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a media briefing in Washington DC on Monday.

"In addition, we remain deeply concerned by the reports of ongoing telecommunications disruptions across the country, which limit the ability of people in Bangladesh, including American citizens, to access critical information," he said, calling on the government to restore internet service.

"The US also condemns the reported shoot-on-sight orders that have been given and called for those to be rescinded."

Asked during a press briefing at his ministry yesterday, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said police take action when they come under attack, which is true for any country in the world. Police were forced to shoot when they were attacked, and public properties were destroyed and set on fire.

Catherine West, parliamentary under-secretary of state of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, on Monday expressed deep concerns over the violence in Bangladesh in recent days.

"The loss of life is unacceptable … the rights to protest, to peacefully assemble and to express different political views are rights, which the UK holds dear and must be protected," she said, calling for quickly restoring internet.

"We urge an end to the violence and loss of life and call on all sides to find ways to restore calm across Bangladesh, including by establishing a pathway for constructive political dialogue in the interest of the people of Bangladesh."

Meanwhile, the UN has conveyed its concerns to Bangladesh authorities over the "misuse of UN-marked vehicles" during the student protests over the last week.

"The misuse of UN-marked vehicles is alarming and has been conveyed to Bangladeshi authorities," a UN spokesperson told a briefing in New York on Monday.

During the diplomatic briefing by Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Sunday, acting UN resident coordinator Domenico Scalpelli also spoke about UN logos on helicopters seen on TV.

"This has now come to the attention of the UN headquarters in New York," Scalpelli said.

A UN official in Dhaka told this correspondent yesterday that these vehicles are the properties of Bangladesh government, but use of those marked with UN logos during violence is a reputational issue for the UN.

Asked, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told this correspondent yesterday evening: "We are looking into it."

The UN spokesperson in New York said the "brutal crackdown on the student protesters" in Bangladesh is unacceptable. Accountability and dialogue are essential.

Domenico Scalpelli told Hasan on Sunday that internet outage is impacting the lifesaving work of UN and NGO partners for flood victims and Rohingya crisis response, as well as government's monthly social security cash payments for most vulnerable poor families.

"Reduction of security forces in Cox's Bazar camps risks resulting in further increase of insecurity in those camps."

"We need government's facilitation for us now to bring in satellite phones and other equipment for emergency communications," he said.