DHAKA: The EU has proposed cutting back contacts with Myanmar’s top generals as a first step to increasing sanctions over atrocities committed by the army against Rohingya Muslims.
According to the draft, the EU “will suspend invitations to the commander in chief of the Myanmar armed forces and other senior military officers.”
Rashed Ahmed Chowdhury, former Bangladeshi special envoy to the UN, welcomed the proposal, calling Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi a “puppet” of the country’s military.
“Currently, Myanmar is getting arms from many Western countries, including Israel. Once the supply line is cut, it will create immense pressure on Myanmar. Only then will Bangladesh be able to repatriate refugees,” Chowdhury told Arab News, suggesting more comprehensive measures.
“The world should consider economic sanctions on Myanmar. The UN Security Council should pass a unanimous resolution to stop this ethnic cleansing, which is completely unacceptable. If the situation persists, many countries will throw the minority population out of their land.”
Bangladeshi diplomat Q. A. M. A. Rahim told Arab News: “From the onset, the EU has taken a rational approach against these atrocities. This time as well, it didn’t wait for any call from anyone. The EU has made its stand very clear, and is taking decisions independently.”
The former foreign secretary of Bangladesh and former secretary-general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) said he believes the EU will take further measures if Myanmar continues its atrocities against the Rohingya.
Bangladesh should intensify efforts to convince countries that support Myanmar “that this ethnic cleansing must be stopped,” he added.
“Without consistent and comprehensive pressure from the international community, there won’t be a sustainable solution to the refugee crisis.”
Former Ambassador Sohrab Hossain told Arab News that the EU’s initiative is “very good,” and that “Myanmar is under immense diplomatic pressure.”
Such pressure should be maintained to “compel” Myanmar to take back Rohingya who have fled, he said, lauding Bangladeshi diplomacy in this regard.
EU proposes shunning Myanmar generals over Rohingya crisis
EU proposes shunning Myanmar generals over Rohingya crisis
Trump invites Colombia’s Petro to White House after earlier threat of military action
- Relations between Trump and Petro have been frosty since the Republican returned to the White House in January 2025
WASHINGTON/BOGOTA: Days after threatening Colombia with military action, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said arrangements were being made for the country’s President Gustavo Petro to visit the White House, following a call between the two leaders. Trump and Petro said they discussed relations between the two countries in their first call since the US president on Sunday said that a US military operation focused on Colombia’s government “sounds good” to him. That threat followed Trump ordering the US capture of the president of neighboring Venezuela, who was flown to the US to face drug and weapons charges.
“It was a great honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had. I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future,” Trump wrote on social media.
Trump added “arrangements are being made” for a meeting in Washington between himself and Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, but gave no specific date for a meeting.
“We have spoken by phone for the first time since he became president,” Petro told supporters gathered at a rally in Bogota meant to celebrate Colombia’s sovereignty, adding he had requested a restart of dialogue between the two countries.
A source in Petro’s office told Reuters the call was “cordial” and “respectful.”
Relations between Trump and Petro have been frosty since the Republican returned to the White House in January 2025.
Trump has repeatedly accused the administration of Petro, without evidence, of enabling a steady flow of cocaine into the US, imposing sanctions on the Colombian leader in October.
On Sunday Trump referred to Petro as “a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
The US in September had revoked Petro’s visa after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York following a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and called on US soldiers to “disobey the orders of Trump.”
Petro, who has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, had accused Trump of being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and called for “criminal proceedings” over US missile attacks on suspected drug-running boats in Caribbean waters.
The Trump administration has carried out more than 30 strikes against suspected drug boats since September, in a campaign that has killed at least 110 people.
