A/HRC/39/12 53. Bahrain commended the passing of the Ombudsman Act, demonstrating the priority given by Bangladesh to delivering consistency and fairness in applying the law. It welcomed the development of the National Social Security Strategy, as it included targets from the Sustainable Development Goals. 54. Barbados commended Bangladesh for legislative reforms, and recognized that improving its human rights situation was a continuous process and Bangladesh had much more work to do. 55. Belarus welcomed the comprehensive and systematic work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and congratulated Bangladesh on the progress in improving its population’s well-being. 56. Belgium recognized positive steps in implementing previous review recommendations, and encouraged further strengthening of the protection of human rights, in line with international treaties. 57. Benin commended efforts to implement recommendations from the previous review. It noted the good cooperation that Bangladesh had with the international human rights mechanisms. 58. Bhutan welcomed achievements in meeting the criteria to graduate from the least developed country category, and encouraged Bangladesh to continue with its peoplecentred development agenda, with particular focus on vulnerable sections of society. 59. The Plurinational State of Bolivia noted progress in poverty reduction, and was interested in learning about the country’s experience with progressive implementation of the right to social security. 60. Bosnia and Herzegovina encouraged Bangladesh to submit its outstanding periodic treaty body reports, while acknowledging the efforts it had made to improve the human rights situation. 61. Botswana applauded Bangladesh for accommodating about 1 million Rohingya refugees. It noted legislative measures undertaken in line with treaty obligations on children, torture, and disabilities. 62. The head of the delegation thanked all for extending humanitarian support for the Rohingya and made a request for the support needed to ensure their voluntary, dignified and safe return. 63. He emphasized that even without acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, of 1951, and its Protocol, Bangladesh was doing more than countries that had signed those instruments, detailing support measures taken for the Rohingya. Responding to a question from Azerbaijan about the impact of the Rohingya crisis, he stated that currently in Cox’s Bazar there were twice as many Rohingya as local residents. The influx had caused price hikes of basic goods in the area. The local people, unable to use their land for cultivation, lost out in the labour market to the Rohingya, who accepted lower wages. Municipal services had been unavailable to locals since the influx, adding more suffering. At the national level, resources had been diverted to deploy additional law enforcement officials in Cox’s Bazar for the protection of the Rohingya, depriving other areas of the country. 64. Regarding law enforcement agencies and human rights, he underscored the zerotolerance policy in cases of criminal liability of members of the law enforcement agencies, and gave the example of Narayanganj 7 murder case, in which the severest punishment had been meted out to convicted members of law enforcement agencies. The Government had an unequivocal, no-impunity stance regarding the involvement of law enforcement agencies in kidnapping or abduction. 65. He respectfully disagreed that enforced disappearances occurred in Bangladesh frequently. Often, cases of possible abduction of individuals were reported as enforced disappearances. He said that that was done with the obvious intention of maligning the Government and its achievements. In many cases, the perceived victims had reappeared, proving the allegations of the so-called enforced disappearance false. 6