State Department Spokesperson Reacts To Bangladeshi PM's Resignation Following Deadly Protests

4 months ago

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation and the violence in Bangladesh.

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Transcript

00:00You met on Bangladesh. Bangladesh is free at the cost of hundreds of lives under the chute

00:06on site ordered by autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, but the situation is still unclear.

00:12Students, leaders, opposition parties, and the army are trying to form a civilian government.

00:17Could you please provide more insight into the U.S. position?

00:22So as I said, a few things. Number one, our condolences, of course, go out to those who

00:27have been hurt in the violence over the past few weeks. We are focused now on supporting an end to

00:34the violence and for accountability. All decisions regarding the interim government should be made

00:41with respect to democratic principles, rule of law, and the will of the Bangladeshi people.

00:45Yeah. As you said, accountability. If Sheikh Hasina flees to India and she is trying to

00:51get any of the Western countries, will you allow her to come into the U.S. as she commits

00:58a crime against humanity largely? I'm not aware of any request of that nature.

01:08We already know the Bangladeshi government led widespread violence and callous. What measure

01:15is the U.S. State Department or U.S. taking to address the reported atrocities against minorities

01:22and general populace in Bangladesh? So a few things. Number one, I have made – as I made clear,

01:27what we are calling for today is an end to the violence and for accountability. Now,

01:33as to what accountability looks like, that's something that should take place

01:36under Bangladeshi law. Obviously, anyone responsible for acts of violence,

01:41acts that break the law, should be held accountable for them.

01:43Thank you so much. Mike.

01:45Yeah, go ahead. Matt, thanks. During the time that

01:50Bangladeshi people struggled against that fascist ruler and thousands of people got killed,

01:56you already informed us that she fled the country this morning.

02:00I didn't inform you that. I think – Okay. You said it. Okay.

02:03I said we've seen the announcement she resigned. Okay. She resigned. Okay. After she left,

02:08there is a – dozens of dead bodies are pulling out from the Gonovoban, the official residence of

02:14prime minister. There's dozens of dead bodies are pulling out next to the parliament. There's

02:19lots of atrocities are taking place by the government official, those who are still in power,

02:25especially a couple of people. Army Chief of Staff General Wakaru Zaman, he was involved

02:31with genocide. Navy Chief Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan, he was involved with the genocide.

02:38Air Chief Marshal Hassan Mahmoud Khan, they were involved with the genocide. And they're the same

02:43people are saying, we are going to the president and form a caretaker government. So as a matter

02:49of fact, when was the last time we heard a killer is going to do the justice for another killer?

02:54So let me say a few things. Number one, with respect to the violence over the past few weeks

03:00and the deaths that have occurred, it is vital that we have full and transparent investigations

03:06to ensure accountability for these deaths. Second, as it relates to the interim government,

03:11as I made clear in my opening remarks, we think that it's important that we focus on the

03:16Bangladeshi people's democratic aspirations and see a path to democratic governance.

03:23Does America support Bangladesh military to install a caretaker government?

03:28We want to see the Bangladeshi people decide the future of the Bangladeshi government.

03:33Janneke. Oh, yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

03:36Just have there been any – has there been any contact, as far as you know,

03:39with Bangladeshi officials, be it in the military or in the former government?

03:44I don't have any to report today. There may have been contacts from our embassy,

03:48but I'm not aware of any. I don't have any to announce.

03:50And just also in terms of some U.S. issues with Bangladesh, the issue of the Rohingya,

03:53of course, has been something that's been quite important between the U.S. and Bangladesh. Do you

03:58– is there any concern that this would impact the housing of the Rohingya refugees?

04:02So I think, as you know, the United States has provided – I'm going to try to do the number

04:07from memory here – I think it's around $2 billion to assist with refugees in Bangladesh. And

04:15I don't have any immediate comment on how this change of government might affect those programs.

04:20I would certainly hope that it wouldn't. We think it's important that Bangladesh continue to provide

04:26hospitality to those refugees, and we'll continue to work with them to do so.

04:31And Bangladesh –

04:32No, hold on. Guys, hold on. Simon, did you have a –

04:35Yeah, well, Sean asked most of my questions, but I did want to ask on – is there ongoing

04:43assistance to Bangladesh, both in terms of humanitarian aid that will continue and also

04:51military – will military assistance continue, given, I guess, there's – this is not a coup,

04:55but there's questions over the transfer of power?

04:57Yeah. So certainly with respect to the kind of allusion in the last part of your question,

05:06so we've seen – all that we know right now is we've seen the announcement from the government

05:09that she resigned. We don't have any further information about how that resignation may

05:13have taken place. With respect to – and that goes to the question, obviously, of financial support.

05:19So with respect to financial support, in fiscal year 2023, the United States provided over $212

05:25million in bilateral economic development and health assistance to Bangladesh. Obviously,

05:31this – I don't have any announcements with respect to those programs, other than that we

05:34would like to see them continue because they're important to our relationship with the people

05:39of Bangladesh. And just to confirm the question Sean answered, it was we provided nearly 2 billion

05:46humanitarian assistance to support Rohingya refugees since August of 2017.

05:51Sure. Can I just take just another question on that? Just taking a step back a little bit,

05:55I mean, how do you actually feel about the army's role? How does the United States feel? Do you think

05:59that they were productive in this? Is there any concern that an interim role could become more

06:03than an interim role as well? So let me answer that two ways. One,

06:07with respect to their role over the past several days, we have seen the reports that the army

06:13resisted calls to crack down on the protesters. And if those reports are true, certainly

06:19that is something that we would encourage. We don't – we made clear, I think, for several

06:23weeks now that people have a legitimate right to protest and to peacefully assemble, and we

06:29opposed any kind of violent crackdown. So if it is true, in fact, that the army resisted calls

06:34to crack down on lawful protesters, that would be a positive development.

06:41With respect to where we go from here, what we want to see is democratic order. We want to see

06:48the Bangladeshi people choose their own government, and that's what we'll be looking for in the days

06:52and weeks ahead.

State Department Spokesperson Reacts To Bangladeshi PM's Resignation Following Deadly Protests

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