Myanmar has reached out to Bangladesh to take back members of Border Guard Police (BGP) who entered Bangladesh territory to save themselves amid conflicts there with the Arakan Army. "We are in constant communication. They want to take back their BGP members. The Myanmar government is communicating with Bangladesh as they (BGP members) want to go back. There is communication from both ends," Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. Thirty-seven more members of Myanmar’s border police have taken shelter in Bangladesh border amid a conflict between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group, the Arakan Army, in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. With this, the total number of BGP personnel who took shelter in Bangladesh stood at 95 till this morning (February 5, 2024), said Shariful Islam, public relations officer at Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Headquarters. Number of Myanmar border guards who fled to Bangladesh stands at 103: BGB The Foreign Minister said Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh and Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister have communicated in this regard and Myanmar conveyed that they would take back the BGP members. “How they will be taken back – by air or by road – is now being discussed. You know that the members of Myanmar security forces also entered Indian territory earlier, but they were sent back by air. We will also send them back,” Hasan said. Responding to a question, the foreign minister said that the border is secure. ‘WE WELCOME BIDEN’S LETTER’ The foreign minister also said that Bangladesh has welcomed the letter written by US President Joe Biden and thinks that any question that was there has been cleared by this letter. “We welcome the letter written by President Biden. We already have very good relations with the US. Through this letter, our partnership will further advance,” Hasan told reporters. There is no more “discomfort” in the Bangladesh-US relations, Hasan said. US President Joe Biden has written to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressing his willingness to work together to achieve Bangladesh’s economic goal. He also expressed willingness to partner with Bangladesh on their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. "The United States is committed to supporting Bangladesh's ambitious economic goals and partnering with Bangladesh on our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," President Biden said in his letter. As the two countries embark on the next chapter of the US-Bangladesh partnership, the US President said he wants to convey the sincere desire of his administration to continue their work together on regional and global security, economic development, climate change and energy, global health, humanitarian support, especially for Rohingya refugees, and more. "We have a long and successful history of working together to solve problems, and our strong people-to-people ties are the foundation of this relationship," the US President wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. TALKS WITH THAI, LIBYAN AMBASSADORS During the maiden courtesy meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thai Ambassador to Bangladesh Makawadee Sumitmor congratulated the Bangladesh Foreign Minister on behalf of the Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara. Reflecting on the excellent Bangladesh-Thai relations, they discussed issues to deepen ties, such as possible high level visits, trade and investment, possible free trade agreement (FTA) and existing tax regime, port connectivity, enhanced frequency of flights and energy cooperation. Ambassador of Libya to Bangladesh Abdulmutalib S Suliman also met Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud. The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh will stand beside Libya in its rebuilding efforts. They discussed working facilities for doctors, nurses, engineers and other skilled workforces. Read more: 37 more Nasaka personnel take shelter in Bangladesh; total number now 95

A fire Saturday at a private shelter in the Siberian city of Kemerovo that was operating illegally killed 22 people, Russian officials said. Initial reports described the wooden building in the city 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow as a nursing home, but the country's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, later said it was a “temporary residence for persons in a difficult life situation.” The committee said a man who rented the building has been arrested and charged with violation of safety regulations resulting in multiple deaths. The committee's statement did not identify him, but news reports said he was a local clergyman. Read more: 10 dead, including 5 children, in France apartment fire The cause of the fire that broke out before dawn has not been determined, but the investigative committee said residents told the shelter operator on the day before the fire that the building's coal-fired boiler was malfunctioning. Six other people were injured in the blaze that destroyed the two-story building.

November 12 is a day that people of Bhola try to forget. On this day in 1970, a powerful cyclone took away the lives of at least 150,000 people while thousands went missing. Although 52 years have passed since then, natural disasters haven’t stopped from hitting the island district. The lives of people from Bhola continue to be in great danger as the island lacks adequate cyclone shelters. Matlab Munshi, an eyewitness of the devastating cyclone, described how the impact of that brutal cyclone was. “It was raining mildly with stormy wind since that morning. The storm started to turn into a cyclone in the evening and hit the island at night. We didn’t receive any forecast about the cyclone as communication system was weak at that time,” said Munshi. Munshi added that the cyclone had hit a total of 18 coastal districts of the country including Bhola during the pre-independence era. “During the cyclone, 8-10 feet tidal surge from the rivers and the Bay of Bengal submerged everything. When the storm subsided and we went out the next morning, we saw corpses dangling in tree branches and lying scattered everywhere. Many people never found their loved ones again as their bodies were washed away. What’s more painful is that we had to remain without food for 10 days straight, which exacerbated our suffering,” Munshi added. Read: 1,000 more cyclone shelters to be set up: Enamul Kalu Majhi,75,  is a resident of Shibpur union under Bhola’s Sadar upazila who had lost 30 people, including seven from his immediate family, to the Cyclone of ’70. While talking to UNB, Kalu described how his family members went missing on that night. “Both my house and my family members were washed away. I along with a brother of mine survived by holding onto a tree. In the morning, I saw dead bodies littering everywhere. After going to the place where my house used to be, I came to learn that all of my family members were taken away by the storm. The situation was so tragic that we had to dig big holes and bury 90-100 bodies together,” Kalu said. People living in other parts of the country and the world came to know about the impact of the cyclone when photos of the disaster were published in Daily Purbodesh newspaper four days later. “After taking the photos of the corpses strewn across the island, I sent them to the newspaper’s office in Dhaka by fishing trawlers. Besides, I sent the news using the wireless system of police. The photo story was published under the heading ‘Cry Bangalees Cry: Corpses Are Dangling in Trees in Bhola’,” said M Habibur Rahman, a Journalist of the newspaper at the time and currently the President of Bhola Press Club. Read: Paikgacha bears the maximum brunt of cyclone Sitrang Fifty-two years have passed since then, but people of Bhola still have to fight with natural disasters on a regular basis. Their lives are still endangered due to a dearth of cyclone shelters in the various chars of the island district. Kabir Patwari, a resident of Char Patila under Bhola’s Charfashon upazila, said that as their Char is separated from the main island, it becomes tough for them to go to cyclone shelters during cyclones. “There are a total of 746 cyclone shelters in Bhola, which are inadequate to accommodate all the needy people of the district. That’s why we need more shelters here,” said Md Abdur Rashid, Deputy Director of Bhola’s Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP). During his visit to Bhola’s Monpura island after cyclone Sitrang, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamur Rahman had said that the government has taken up a project to build 1,000 cyclone shelters in the coastal districts of the country. “As of yet, we’ve built a total of 220 new cyclone centers, while construction works of 423 more centers are currently going on,” Enamur said. Read: Cyclone Sitrang aftermath: 10,000 houses in 419 unions damaged, says state minister

In a complete U-turn from its stand on Rohingyas, India on Wednesday decided to offer shelter to the Muslim refugees who poured into this country in the wake of ethnic violence in neighbouring Myanmar. Indian Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to inform the government's decision. "India has always welcomed those who have sought refuge in the country," he wrote. "In a landmark decision all #Rohingya #Refugees will be shifted to EWS (economically weaker section) flats in Bakkarwala area of Delhi. They will be provided basic amenities, UNHCR IDs & round-the-clock @DelhiPolice protection," the Minister said. According to the United Nations, an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees are currently in India, most of them having fled Myanmar in 2017 when a military crackdown began against them there. Read: Dhaka to reach out to global leaders at UNGA with Rohingya issue In the absence of a clear refugee policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist BJP government has for long termed the Rohingya refugees as “illegal immigrants” and a “threat to national security.” India had earlier given shelter to Tibetan refugees and Tamil refugees from the neighbouring island nation of Sri Lanka, despite not being a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

Bangladesh has rejected a request from the United States to give temporary shelter to some people from Afghanistan, saying Bangladesh is already in a big problem by giving shelter to over 1.1 million Rohingyas. “Yes, we’ve received a request from the US. We thanked them but rejected the request,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told UNB over phone. Asked from which level the request came from the US, the Foreign Minister said it came from diplomatic channels both from Washington and in Dhaka. Also read: Bangladesh to welcome new Afghan govt if it’s of people: FM Dr Momen said the US is a friendly country to Bangladesh and conveyed the message to them that Bangladesh is already facing many problems by giving shelter to the Rohingyas. “Don’t put us into further trouble,” he said, mentioning what Bangladesh conveyed to the US side after receiving the request.