US watching developments in Myanmar closely
The US is very concerned over the escalation of conflicts in Myanmar and is keeping a close watch on the situation.
"We are following it very closely. Obviously, we are very concerned as the world is concerned," Stephen F Ibelli, spokesperson for the US embassy in Dhaka, said yesterday while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of opening of the first-ever TechCamp in Bangladesh to empower young journalists at a city hotel.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The comment comes when The Daily Star asked if the US would play any role as Myanmar is getting more destabilised with the ethnic rebel groups and the Myanmar junta fighting tough battles and the rebel groups taking control of many parts of the Southeast Asian country.
Ibelli was also asked if the letter by US President Joe Biden to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina means that the relations between the two countries have eased as the US was very critical of the previous elections and was calling for free and fair polls.
In response, he said the US ambassador and many US officials said they did not find the elections on January 7 free and fair.
"However, we work with many countries around the globe, many countries that are not democracies, many countries that have different forms of government.
"And I think this is the same for Bangladesh … we are looking to work with Bangladesh in mutual areas of cooperation like economy, climate change."
Ibelli said the US is the number one foreign direct investor in Bangladesh and the number one location for goods and services from Bangladesh.
"I think that is very indicative of the interest of United States and that is also indicative of the fact that we try to partner in the areas in which we have mutual interest."
Asked if the US would withdraw the sanctions against Rab imposed in 2021 December and review the visa policy announced in May last year, the spokesperson said he has no information, but that after the sanctions, the number of extrajudicial killings declined.
"So, we feel the sanctions had an effect on crimes and extrajudicial killings that were committed by Rab."
On the three-day TechCamp workshop being hosted by the US embassy, he said it aimed to empower 50 aspiring journalists to combat misinformation, fact check, and learn best practices on Artificial Intelligence.
Ibelli said, "Every day, we are exposed to so much information that we can barely keep track of. Oftentimes, we mix rumors with facts and truths. It is really easy to become confused. To deal with this challenge, we need to equip ourselves with critical thinking and the correct tools to identify."
Those joining the workshop can later compete with their ideas on fact-checking, and the best ideas will be supported by the US embassy.
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