The European Union (EU) has expressed concern over the recent violent clashes in Dhaka that erupted after the deaths of two students in a road crash.
The EU heads of missions in Dhaka called for calm and respect to the right to peaceful protest.
“The violent scenes in Dhaka in recent days, particularly where school children and young people have been caught in protests or violent clashes with other groups are a source of real concern,” the EU said in a statement on Tuesday, reports bdnews24.
“We expect all sides to remain calm and to respect the right to peaceful protest. Incidents of unlawful or disproportionate violence or action against protestors, journalists or others need to stop; those that happened must be investigated and perpetrators held to account.”
It said the school-children's protests highlighted fears over road safety and the enforcement of laws and regulations on the roads in Bangladesh.
“The government's recognition of the need for action is a welcome step and we therefore expect further government action to address this without delay,” it added.
The signatories are: British High Commissioner Alison Blake, Danish Ambassador Mikael Hemniti Winther, Spanish Ambassador D Álvaro de Salas Giménez de Azcárate, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of France Jean-Pierre Poncet, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Italy Giuseppe Semenza, Chargé d'Affaires of Embassy of Germany Michael Schultheiss, Chargé d'Affaires of Sweden Embassy Anders Öhrström, Chargé d'Affaires of Netherlands Embassy Jeroen Steeghs, and Chargé d'Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union Konstantinos Vardakis.