Cape Verde to support Bangladesh in repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar

President of Cape Verde (an island country of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean), Dr José Maria Pereira Neves, has committed his country's support to Bangladesh in the repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas, now living in Bangladesh.

Dr José Maria Pereira Neves expressed the views when Bangladesh Ambassador to Portugal Rezina Ahmed presented her credentials to him in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Friday as the fourth non-resident Ambassador of Bangladesh to that country with residence in Lisbon, reads a press release. 

The President highly lauded the government of Bangladesh for giving shelter to the displaced Rohingyas and ensured his continued support to Bangladesh in its efforts to ensure the returns of over one million Rohingyas to their homeland.

With a population of about 491,233 (2021 Census) and 500 km off the west coast of Africa, Cabo Verde is a ten-island archipelago, nine inhabited.

Cabo Verde has witnessed significant economic progress since 1990, driven in large part by the rapid development of tourism (25% of GDP), coupled with considerable social development due to strong social policies since the 1970s.

Until 2019, Cabo Verde was considered one of the champions among Sub-Saharan African countries in terms of poverty reduction and under the United Nations 2030 Agenda, reflected in the new Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development 2022-2026 (PEDS II), the Government set the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2026.

The President highly appreciated the initiatives taken by  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the socio-economic development and institutionalisation of democracy in the country.

The President expressed satisfaction on the existing bilateral relations between the two countries particularly in the multilateral fora. He laid emphasis on exploring potential in trade and investment with Bangladesh and strengthening the relations between the two countries.

In turn, Ambassador Rezina Ahmed also emphasised increasing bilateral trade and ensured her readiness to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cape Verde closely in this regard.

She appreciated the support of the government of Cape Verde in the recent election for the membership of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the term 2025-2027.

The Ambassador extended an invitation of Bangladesh to the President of Cape Verde to visit Bangladesh.  He accepted the invitation and agreed to visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time. The President conveyed his greetings to  President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The President assured the Ambassador of his full support and cooperation in her future endeavours to take the existing bilateral relations between the two countries to a new height.

Later, Ambassador Rezina Ahmed made a media statement before the local print and electronic media.

The day before, Ambassador Rezina Ahmed handed over copies of her credential papers to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration of Cape Verde Dr. Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares followed by a meeting with him.

During the discussion, both agreed on increasing the trade between the two countries. They identified the areas of cooperation to collaborate in the near future, i.e. tourism, blue economy, climate change and IT sector and to explore the opportunity of importing pharmaceuticals from Bangladesh to Cape Verde.

In this connection, the Ambassador mentioned holding Foreign Office Consultations between the two countries, which is a very good platform for addressing all the issues and the way forward.