Recovering Bangladesh’s wealth laundered abroad is now among the interim government’s top priorities, Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
Delivering his speech in Bangla during the 80th UNGA session at noon New York time, Dr Yunus said, “Bringing back laundered assets is one of our foremost priorities. Over the past 15 years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been siphoned abroad through corruption.
“We are working tirelessly to recover this wealth. But our efforts are being obstructed by lengthy legal processes and other obstacles in the countries concerned. Without strong political will on their part, our attempts will not succeed.”
Yunus added, “The existing global financial system has failed to effectively prevent this illicit transfer of resources from developing nations. In some cases, the regulations of international financial institutions have in fact encouraged the shifting of vast amounts of illicit funds to tax havens.”
He urged countries and institutions complicit in holding laundered assets to stop abetting the crime.
“Do not become party to this injustice. Return the money to its rightful owners – the farmers, workers, and ordinary taxpayers of Bangladesh,” he said, calling for stricter international regulations to prevent such illicit transfers and for their proper enforcement.
Recalling his speech to the General Assembly last year, Yunus said, “Then I spoke to you as the representative of a nation emerging from a people’s uprising. Today I am here to tell you how far we have advanced in this journey of transformation.
‘Bangladesh is home to three out of every hundred people on Earth. But our story is important not because of our size or geopolitical importance, but because it demonstrates the extraordinary power of ordinary people. It is a reminder to all nations that however deep the crisis, however impossible the solution may appear, the path to recovery is never lost.”
The Chief Adviser recalled that Bangladesh was born in 1971 through a bloody struggle for equality, dignity, and justice.
“Yet the rights we fought and sacrificed for have been repeatedly denied over the past five decades. Time and again, under the leadership of our youth, our people had to rise, make sacrifices, and reclaim those rights,” he said.
“This year we marked the first anniversary of the July People’s Uprising – a movement in which our youth defeated dictatorship and gave us the opportunity to renew our struggle for a just and equal society. The responsibility of realising that vision was placed upon me and my colleagues.”
He said rebuilding a broken state structure required extensive institutional reforms. “With the overwhelming public mandate we received, the easier path would have been to push through reforms by executive orders. But we chose the harder path – one that is inclusive and sustainable.
“Our goal has been to create a democratic structure with balanced powers, where dictatorship can never re-emerge, where no elected leader can undermine the democratic spirit of the state, and where the guardians of the state can never turn predators upon their own people.”
Earlier, on Monday (22 September), Yunus arrived in New York to attend the UNGA. He and his delegation landed at JFK International Airport at 3pm local time on an Emirates commercial flight.
This year, the Chief Adviser’s entourage includes six political leaders.
They are – BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP acting chairman’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir, Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhter Hossen, NCP Joint Convener Dr Tasnim Jara, and Jamaat leader Nakibur Rahman Tarek, who joined the delegation from the United States.
Chief Adviser Yunus is scheduled to return home on 2 October.
