The United Nations has warned that due to lack of funds, from next month about one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will be forced to reduce ration.
The World Food Program (WFP) said in a letter on Wednesday that the “lack of serious funds” is forcing the monthly food voucher to cut from $ 12.50 to $ 6 per person per person.
“Unfortunately, we still have not received enough money, and the cost-saving measures alone are not enough,” the letter said.
Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, a top official of Bangladesh, who oversees Rohingya refugee camps, confirmed the assistance.
Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner said, “I received a letter confirming a cut of $ 6.50, which will be effective from April 1.”
He said, “Everything they are receiving now is not already enough, so it is difficult to imagine the results of this new cut,” he told The Reuters News Agency by phone.
The announcement of WFP comes before a visit by UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres, which is slapped to meet the Rohingya refugees to mark the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Bangladesh is giving shelter to more than a million Rohingya, a member of a persecuted Muslim minority, mostly escaped from a violent purse in neighboring Myanmar in 2016 and 2017. They live in crowded camps in the southern district of Cox Bazaar, where they have limited access to job opportunities and education.
Graduate aid cuts have already created serious difficulty among Rohingya refugees, which are dependent on help and suffer from large -scale malnutrition.
Bangladesh has struggled to support refugees as a wholesale return or reconsideration in Myanmar is far elsewhere.
Nai San Lvin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya alliance, said that the food voucher cut is a “death sentence” for Rohingya refugees, which is already tolerating very serious situations.
The WFP stated that the funding inter -President Donald Trump’s administration is due to a widespread decrease in donations rather than a decision to cut its foreign aid globally in the United States, WFP said US support for food aid for Rohingya continues.
But the decision to suddenly stop most US foreign aid by the Trump administration will affect health facilities in camps.
Rahman said that the cut by Washington means that Rohingya camps have to reduce services in hospitals and in waste management and five American-funded hospitals have had to reduce services. He said that if food is reduced, it will create a “serious problem”.
Rahman said, “These people are stateless, sick and should not suffer due to funding crunch.”
Rahman said last month that the US contributed more than 50 percent of the Rohingya humanitarian response in 2024.
The United Nations High Commissioner Philippo Grandy for refugees said on Friday that he feared that a decrease in donor support will risk thousands of people.
Grandy posted on X, “If Donor’s support is dramatically reduced – the huge work done by the Bangladesh government, aid agencies and refugees will be affected, thousands of people will be put at risk of hunger, illness and insecurity.”
In 2023, Rohingya was cut off a previous round of ration, which according to the United Nations, made the amount of food ration $ 8 monthly, leading to a sharp increase in appetite and malnutrition.
Within months, he said, the 90 percent of the camp population “struggles to reach a sufficient diet” and more than 15 percent of children suffered the highest rate, suffering from malnutrition. The cut was later reversed.
On Monday, the European Commission announced an allocation of 76 million euros ($ 79.4m) in humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees and others affected by the conflict in Myanmar.
The European Union has stood firmly with Rohingya refugees for the last seven years, as we have for the last seven years. ,
Lahbib, Lahbib, on Monday, visited refugee camps in Cox’s market, said, “His safe and dignified return is out in Rakhin state and with conflict in Myanmar.”
