US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes on Tuesday met Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and discussed a "comprehensive approach" to the protracted Rohingya crisis with international support. Talking to reporters, Momen said the government of Bangladesh wants to see better life for the Rohingyas. Asked about relocation of the Rohingyas by the United States, Momen said it is nothing but a drop of water in the ocean as Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas. Read more: Envoy: For us it's “neighbourhood first”; but in the neighbourhood too, it's “Bangladesh first” He said the US did not say any exact number but he hinted the number could be 62 only at the beginning. "The United States is proud to be able to support resettlement in our country of this very most vulnerable Rohingya. This is a priority of President Biden. We are discussing with other governments and with other partners. We will be working together with the international community,” said Noyes thanking Momen for Bangladesh’s life-saving support for Rohingya. She also had a "helpful conversation" with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen about sustaining the humanitarian response for Rohingya and ensuring international accountability for the genocide in Myanmar. Noyes earlier said the United States together with its international partners will not allow the Rohingya crisis to become a forgotten crisis. "We won’t let this become a forgotten crisis," she said on Sunday after her meeting with the UN agencies, which are working on the ground. Read more: Momen praises Japan as its outgoing envoy Naoki meets him Noyes thanked to all their partners who work tirelessly to improve conditions and advance the rights of Rohingya. Noyes met with government officials to express US' gratitude for their generosity in hosting Rohingya and other refugees fleeing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. She is on a five-day visit to Bangladesh (December 3-7) to highlight the US commitment to supporting the Rohingya response and impacted host communities. Noyes also appreciated the role of the US Embassy in Dhaka.

William Lacy Swing, former Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and longtime US diplomat, has died in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was 86. A tireless advocate on behalf of migrants and refugees, DG Swing was interviewed by  BBC in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in Oct 2017, as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were fleeing across the border from Myanmar.  "It is with a heavy heart that I learned of my predecessor's passing today," IOM Director General António Vitorino said on Saturday.  Read: Preparedness strengthened ahead of cyclone, monsoon season in Cox's Bazar: IOM "His was a life of service to his country and humanity, and a source of inspiration to us all." Swing was born in Lexington, North Carolina in the United States in 1934. He entered the Foreign Service after graduating from Yale University (1956) and completing postgraduate studies in Germany (1960). Over four decades, his diplomatic career included six US Ambassadorial postings, in the Republic of the Congo, Liberia, South Africa, Nigeria, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo before retiring from the US Foreign Service in 2001 and embarking on a second career with the United Nations. Swing often told the story of arriving in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, as a junior foreign service officer in 1963 as Nelson Mandela was being transferred to Robben Prison.  He returned 26 years later as Ambassador to witness Mandela's release and subsequent presidency over post-Apartheid South Africa and cited that transformation as an example of the seismic changes that can occur over the course of a single lifetime. Prior to joining IOM Swing served as United Nations Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Western Sahara (2001-2003) and the DRC (2003-2008).  Read:160 Bangladeshi migrants return from Libya with IOM support He was elected Director General of IOM in 2008, steering the Organization for the next decade through its greatest period of expansion since the organization’s foundation in 1951. Under Swing’s stewardship, IOM grew into an agency with an annual operating budget of an estimated USD1.5 billion and more than 10,000 staff working in over 150 countries worldwide. IOM currently has 174 Member States. Swing felt strongly that IOM's future lay in formalizing the well-established working relationship between the Organization and the United Nations system.  In September 2016, then-DG Swing and Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon signed the agreement that established IOM – UN Migration – as a related organization of the UN. As UN Migration, IOM became the point of reference in the global debate on the social, economic and political implications of migration in the 21st century. Shortly before to his retirement in 2018, Swing heralded the completion of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as an important milestone to improve international cooperation on migration.  Read: $ 20mn required to respond to urgent needs after Rohingya camps fire: IOM “This is not the end of the undertaking but the beginning of a new historic effort to shape the global agenda on migration for decades to come,” he said at the time. IOM staff around the world are deeply saddened by the news of Mr. Swing’s passing and extend their deepest condolences to his family. He has a son, Brian, and a daughter, Gabrielle, and has lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with his wife Yuen Cheong since his retirement.  

Acting Assistant Secretary of Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the U.S. Department of State Dean Thompson has described Bangabandhu as a “towering figure of the twentieth century” who shaped modern Bangladesh. 

A day after Myanmar’s military pulled off a well-choreographed coup, the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, finds herself right back where she was just over a decade ago — under house arrest.

Washington,  OCT 23 (AP/UNB) — A top U.S. diplomat testified Tuesday that President Donald Trump was holding back military aid for Ukraine unless the country agreed to investigate Democrats and a company linked to Joe Biden's family, providing lawmakers with a detailed new account of the quid pro quo central to the impeachment probe.