Mohamed Mijarul Quayes (2 April 1960 – 10 March 2017) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

career diplomat. He was appointed

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

's Ambassador to the

Federative Republic of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

in 2014 and High Commissioner to the

Court of St James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 2012 to 2014. Prior to this, Quayes served as

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. He was previously the Bangladeshi Ambassador to the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and served as High Commissioner to the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

prior to his posting to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Education

Quayes was educated at

Dhaka Residential Model College Dhaka Residential Model College (also referred to as DRMC) ( bn, ঢাকা রেসিডেনসিয়াল মডেল কলেজ) is a historic public and residential school, located at Mohammadpur, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The college ...

, the Department of International Relations,

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

and the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management and studied under

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...

Robert Nozick Robert Nozick (; November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher. He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University,

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...

, Richard Neustad, Ernest May and Robert Vogel at Harvard. At Dhaka University, he was a fellow of the Centre for Alternatives.

Career

Mijarul Quayes was a

Bangladesh Civil Service Bangladesh Civil Service ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সিভিল সার্ভিস ), more popularly known by its acronym BCS, is the civil service of Bangladesh. Civil service in the Indian subcontinent originated from the Imperial ...

Cadre of 1982. Following his civil service training, he was posted in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and served as counsellor in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He worked as Director Personnel and as Director General for South Asia, SAARC, NAM at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh following these postings. He was appointed as High Commissioner to the Maldives and presented his credentials to

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (; dv, މައުމޫން ޢަބްދުލް ޤައްޔޫމް; born 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician and an Islamic scholar who served as the President of Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Trans ...

in 2005. In 2008, he headed Bangladesh’s mission in Moscow as

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the Russian Federation. Mijarul Quayes took office as Foreign Secretary for the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in 2009. His tenure as Foreign Secretary is noted for overseeing the facilitation of movement on longstanding issues with Bangladesh’s neighbours. Quayes is remembered in his capacity as Foreign Secretary for leading regional initiatives and issues of global import ranging from human rights to disarmament, trade to sustainable development, gender, inclusion and empowerment and peace-building and for highlighting the consequences of climate change induced displacement for climate vulnerable nations like Bangladesh.https://dailyasianage.com/print-news/55150 Upon completion of his tenure as Foreign Secretary, Quayes was appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. In April 2014, Quayes was transferred from his post as High Commissioner in the United Kingdom to Ambassador of Bangladesh to Brazil. He replaced M Shameem Ahsan who was appointed the Permanent Representative Bangladesh to the United Nations in Geneva. This was reshuffle was regarded as a less prestigious posting for Quayes and is attributed to the Bangladeshi government being unhappy with his performance as High Commissioner and not securing congratulatory remarks from the British government for

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister ...

for winning the

2014 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014. ...

. Quayes was a life member of the UN Association of Bangladesh. He was elected in 2012 to the International Civil Service Commission and previously served as a member of the

UNHRC The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

's working group on migrants and human rights from 1997 to 1998. He taught at

North South University North South University ( bn, নর্থ সাউথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as NSU) is a private university based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its business school is the first Bangladeshi university to receive Americ ...

and

BRAC University BRAC University ( bn, ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as BracU) is a private research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2001 as a branch of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's BRAC un ...

in Dhaka and was a resource for the Foreign Service Academy, the National Defence College and the Public Administration Training Centre. A noted art critic in Bangladesh, Quayes also taught aesthetics and the history of art at the National Academy of the Arts in Dhaka.

Death

In February 2017, Mijarul Quayes was taken to a hospital in

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

. He died from

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple organ failure" or "multisy ...

on 10 March. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mijarul Quayes, Mohamed 1960 births 2017 deaths Bangladeshi diplomats Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Brazil Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Russia High Commissioners of Bangladesh to the Maldives High Commissioners of Bangladesh to the United Kingdom Harvard Kennedy School alumni Dhaka Residential Model College alumni University of Dhaka alumni Place of birth missing Deaths from multiple organ failure Mason Fellows