2008-03-18

Thailand gives 1000 tons of rice for Sidr victims

Thailand has donated 1000 tons of rice in aid of Sidr-affected people of Bangladesh. Thai Ambassador Chalermpol Thanchitt will hand over the rice to Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Hussain Jamil at the Chittagong port on March 19, said a press release of the embassy Sunday. The rice is expected to reach the port by an ocean vessel Monday. The donation is made as a gesture of goodwill to Bangladesh and Sidr victims and reflects the warm relations and close bond of friendship between the Thai and Bangladeshi peoples. Earlier on November 27, 2007, the Thai government sent emergency aid for Sidr victims.

2008-02-21

US visa is question of survival for Rina Begum

When Rina Begum came to the United States from Bangladesh almost 20 years ago, she never imagined that a visa could someday decide the course of her life. Her life began to unravel when she was diagnosed with kidney disease two years ago. Things only got worse when the government got involved. Begum was 40 when doctors told her she would eventually need a transplant. Testing found that the only match within her family was a cousin in Bangladesh, Kabir Hossain. Just one problem: Hossain cannot get a visa to enter the country for the surgery. Despite the efforts of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Representative Michael Capuano, and Begum's doctors, Hossain has been deemed ineligible for a visa by the US embassy in Bangladesh. The reason, according to Begum's lawyer, Joseph Maggiacomo of Quincy, is that the government is unconvinced he would go back home after the surgery. He has two children, a job, and a family, Maggiacomo said on Friday. Its not like hes going to abandon everything and stay here. She is on home dialysis, four times a day, he said. There is no more option. She is going to die because both kidneys do not work. Maggiacomo suspects the government is reluctant to grant a temporary visa to someone from a predominantly Muslim country. The US embassy in Dhaka did not explain its decision in detail, sending only a form letter citing Hossain is insufficient ties to the country he has lived in all his life. Rahman is a bellman at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, and a union member of Unite Here Local 26, which has tried to help. Modern Assistance Programs Inc., which provides employee-assistance programs to its members, offered to fly the family to Bangladesh, India, or Pakistan for transplant surgery. Unfortunately, Rina Begum is doctors believe such a trip would be too arduous for her. The experience has jolted the family. The bad thing about it is that they both came over here and became US citizens, and now the country has basically turned its back on them, Maggiac