Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday reiterated her call to the international community, including the UN, to maintain the pressure on the Myanmar government to take back its nationals from Bangladesh.

She made the call when UN Under Secretary Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu met her at her office.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the premier mentioned about the sufferings of the people in Cox's Bazar due to influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar.

She stressed the need for full implementation of the report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.

Hasina said Bangladesh already faced a prolonged flood this year. “The Rohingya crisis has become an additional burden on Bangladesh.”

About Bangladesh's journey towards being a middle-income country, the PM said the government has already adopted Vision 2021 and formulated five-year plans accordingly.

She mentioned that poverty reduction, rural development and women empowerment were on top of the list of the government's prime tasks.

She said the GDP has reached 7.28 percent while the per capita income now stands at $1610.

About the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the premier said Bangladesh has achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in due time and would surely attain the SDGs.

The government has given importance to the research works for inventing various crops to face the adverse impact of climate change, she added.

Appreciating Bangladesh's development in various sectors, Utoikamanu said the UN was carrying out a review to continue its assistance for Bangladesh despite the country was on the way to graduate from an LDC to a middle-income country.

The UN official said assistance can't be stopped if a country is graduated to a middle-income one from LDC.

She said the UN was revisiting rules and laws about how to provide the assistance to every country even after graduation to a middle-income state.

Ihsanul said the UN would extend its assistance depending on the requirement, needs and vulnerability of every individual country.

He said the UN used to give such assistance under a single policy for all countries.

PM's International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi and Principal Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury were present.