On Tuesday, US assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells had an hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Moment at Dhaka. Wells is visiting Bangladesh for a short trip.
In the meeting, Momen has briefed the senior US official about the Bangladesh government’s plan to relocate Rohingyas to Bhashan Char where the living condition is better. Momen said the assistant secretary did not raise any objection about the government’s relocation plan for Rohingyas. However, Wells acknowledged that being the largest donor for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the United States would like to asses whether the relocation attempt may increase the humanitarian operational cost for Rohingyas.
Wells also added that the USA will continue to support the Rohingyas as well as the host community in Cox’s Bazar. “We stand with Bangladesh, I discussed a range of programmes for the host community at Cox’s Bazar,” she said.
During the meeting, the US assistant secretary said, they discussed a range of bilateral issues between Bangladesh and the USA. They also discussed a number of global issues like human trafficking, climate protocol, counter-terrorism and the UN peacekeeping mission.
