Uzra Zeya arrives today for much anticipated visit

Diplomatic Correspondent :
Dhaka is gearing up to welcome Uzra Zeya, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, and U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, along with a high-level US delegation for a four-day visit from today.
Under Secretary Zeya’s visit focuses on various key areas, including free and fair elections, shared humanitarian concerns such as the Rohingya refugee crisis, labor issues, human rights, and combating trafficking in persons.

Additionally, she will engage with civil society organisations to discuss freedom of expression and association, as well as the inclusion of marginalised groups such as women, girls, persons with disabilities, and religious and ethnic minorities.
The delegation includes Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Anjali Kaur, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Asia Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The visit will have a particular importance surrounding the upcoming parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
While the government has rejected foreign interventions in internal matters and dismissed any dialogue with the opposition before the elections, the international community, including foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka, has been urging the government to engage in talks with the opposition.

In May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa policy aimed at supporting Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair, and peaceful national elections.
This policy enables the US to restrict the issuance of visas to individuals believed to be undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
Simultaneously, an Election Exploratory Mission comprising representatives from six European Union member states has begun its visit to Bangladesh upon the invitation of the Election Commission from July 8-23.

The mission’s primary task is to assess the scope, planning, budget, logistics, and security of the main Election Observation Mission (EOM). Meetings are scheduled with government representatives, election stakeholders, law enforcement agencies, political leaders, civil society organizations, and media representatives during their stay.
The EU did not send observers for the previous parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2018 due to concerns about the viability of the election environment.
The European Union will make a final decision on deploying a comprehensive Election Observation Mission based on the information gathered by the exploratory mission.
The main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been vocal about its demands for a neutral caretaker government and the dissolution of the parliament before the elections.
BNP argues that free and fair polls can only take place under a caretaker government rather than a partisan one. The incumbent government has rejected these demands, as several ministers including Prime Minister has turned down the expectation for holding talks with the opposition.

Amidst this political stalemate, the visit of the US delegation to Dhaka is considered crucial, as it is expected to hold decisive meetings with the government and other stakeholders regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections.