The United Nations’ food agency is planning to slash food rations for Rohingya refugees by more than half from next month, a move that has caused alarm among charities and residents at the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh's chair for the agency overseeing the refugee camps, told The Independent that the World Food Program (WFP) has confirmed they would cut the monthly food ration funding to the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar by half, which will lead to “grave consequences for the community”.
The WFP, in the letter seen by The Independent, said it was forced to reduce food assistance for the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar due to “severe funding shortfalls”.
It said the monthly food rations will be halved from $12.5 to $6 per person beginning from April, marking a significant reduction in rations which charities say were already insufficient.
“There will be a huge impact on nutrition, health, and law and order in the camps due to the cut in food funding. It was $12.50 and has now been reduced to $6, which is a significant reduction,” Mr Rahman, who is the refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told The Independent.
Mr Rahman said the cut in food funding is going to have severe implications for the refugees as they deal with an ongoing influx of ethnic minority people from Myanmar due to civil war in the country.
“Even $12.50 was not sufficient, as food inflation in Bangladesh is very high at the moment. This will have an enormous impact on public health and nutrition,” he added.
In the letter, the WFP recognised that anything less would fall below the “minimum survival level” and fail to meet basic dietary needs. Where people depend entirely on WFP for food assistance, the agency says it aims to provide them with “the standard 2,100 calories each person needs daily for energy” in line with UN standards.
The WFP said it had been exploring ways to sustain food assistance. However, the cuts could be averted if the organisation raised enough money in the coming weeks, A spokesperson for the WFP in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, told Reuters, adding that it was seeking $81m.
Mr Rahman said women and children – the largest groups at the camps – will be the worst hit.
“We are hoping for a positive outcome in the future and for other donors, especially the US, to support the WFP.
“These people have been stateless and are among the most persecuted minorities in the world. Severe malnutrition will rise sharply, and since women and children make up a large portion of the population, they will be the ultimate victims of this. I hope the world stands with them,” Mr Rahman added.
The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh remains one of the world's most pressing humanitarian challenges where more than a million people of ethnic Rohingya community from Myanmar’s Rakhine state live.
Since 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled massive-scale violence in Myanmar, joining approximately 300,000 already in Bangladesh from previous displacements, culminating in the world's largest refugee settlement. However, the already overcrowded camps have been witnessing a new surge since the civil war deepened in Myanmar after the 2021 coup.
John Quinley, director of Fortify Rights, told The Independent that the cuts would be “devastating for over a million Rohingya refugees.
“Donor governments should not leave Rohingya hanging as they are the survivors of genocide who deserve support,” he said.
Daniel P Sullivan, Refugees International director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, said “sudden and drastic” reduction of vital daily food will be devastating for refugees.
“The decision will also result in huge knock-on effects for the health and safety of the largest refugee settlement in the world,” he said, adding that such reductions in the past have led to acute malnutrition and related increases in gender-based violence in the camps.
Aid agencies fear that the decision is likely to have a significant impact as it comes after the Donald Trump administration abruptly halted US foreign aid and dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The cut by Washington had an impact globally on US-funded programmes and abruptly ended many lifesaving care programmes for Rohingya refugees, as the US had been the top donor to the refugee response since 2017.
Mr Sullivans said the WFP cut was “yet another compounding example of the indefensible harm caused by the Trump administration’s decision to cut aid around the world”.
However, the WFP denied that the decision was due to the Trump administration’s USAID decision but because of a broad shortfall in donations.
Rohingya activist Tun Khin called it a “slow death sentence” for the people already facing daily struggle to survive.
“Rohingya refugees are already barely surviving, and these ration cuts are a slow death sentence. Will the international community, which refused to act to prevent genocide, now let starvation finish the genocide the Burmese Military started?” he asked.
Rohingya Rights Advocacy Network (RRAN) said the decision “will have devastating consequences, especially for children. Malnutrition, illness,& suffering will rise, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis”.
Mohammed Dullah, a Rohingya refugee, said: “My children already go to bed hungry some nights. Now half food rations? Children will drop out of school, girls (will get) married off because we can't feed them. Crime will rise.”
The more than 50 per cent cut this time was higher than the 2023 ration cut that saw vouchers reduced to $8 per month leading to a sharp increase in hunger and malnutrition, according to the UN. However, it was later reversed.
Now, the $6 monthly voucher means Rohingya refugees will receive about 24 Bangladesh taka (£0.15) daily.
An egg costs 13-14 taka and a banana costs 10-12 taka, Mr Rahman said, adding that it will cause severe nutritional deficiency among refugees.
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