UK for UN-led probe into Bangladesh crisis, mum on asylum for Sheikh Hasina

London, August 6

The British Government has called for a United Nations-led investigation into the violent incidents of the past few weeks in Bangladesh, which led to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India “for the moment”, before reportedly seeking asylum in the UK. Foreign Secretary David Lammy issued a statement on Monday to condemn the “unprecedented levels of violence and tragic loss of life” over the last two weeks in Bangladesh and said the UK wanted to see action towards a democratic future for the country.

The government made no official comment on reports of Hasina seeking political asylum in the UK, with Home Office sources only indicating that the country’s immigration rules did not specifically allow individuals to travel to the UK to seek asylum. “The last two weeks in Bangladesh have seen unprecedented levels of violence and tragic loss of life,” read Lammy’s statement.

Those who needed international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach as the fastest route to safety, officials indicated with reference to the asylum procedures. Strategic experts believe the situation was a complicated one for the UK, which had previously offered Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, refuge on his release from a Pakistani jail in January 1972.— PTI