The United Nations has warned that it will be forced to drastically cut food rations for approximately one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh starting next month, citing a severe lack of funding, Al Jazeera reports.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it will slash monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to a meager $6 per person, effective April 1.
In a letter released Wednesday, the WFP stated that “severe funding shortfalls” have made the cut unavoidable, adding that “cost-saving measures alone are not enough.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s top official overseeing Rohingya refugee camps, confirmed the drastic reduction.
The news comes just days before a planned visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is scheduled to meet with Rohingya refugees to mark the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Bangladesh currently shelters over one million Rohingya refugees, a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in Myanmar, primarily in 2016 and 2017. They reside in overcrowded camps in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar, facing limited access to employment and education. They are heavily reliant on aid, making them particularly vulnerable to the impact of the cuts.
Bangladesh has been struggling to support the refugees, with prospects of a safe and wholesale return to Myanmar or resettlement elsewhere remaining bleak.
The WFP clarified that the funding gap is due to a broad shortfall in donations and not directly linked to foreign aid cuts by the US administration. They emphasized that the US has continued its support for food aid for the Rohingya, contributing over 50 percent of the humanitarian response in 2024, amounting to some $300 million, according to Rahman last month.
A similar round of ration cuts in 2023, which reduced the amount of food rations to $8 monthly, led to a significant increase in hunger and malnutrition among the refugee population, according to the UN.
Despite the looming crisis, there is some hope. On Monday, the European Commission announced the allocation of 76 million euros ($79.4m) in humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees and others affected by conflict in Myanmar.
