DHAKA, Bangladesh — The United Nations food agency said it managed to avoid drastic food aid cuts to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in the face of concerns that their monthly rations would be reduced by more than half.
Earlier this month, the U.N.’s World Food Program, or WFP, said it might be forced to reduce the monthly rations for the over 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, from US$12.50 per person to $6, beginning in April.
Instead, the ration for Rohingya living in camps in and around Cox’s Bazar is to be set at $12, while the ration for those living in Bhashan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal, would be adjusted to $13, a WFP official told BenarNews on Thursday.
The Bangladesh government has encouraged Rohingya to relocate to Bhashan Char, in a bid to alleviate overcrowded conditions at the 33 camps in the Cox’ s Bazar region. Since 2021, about 35,000 refugees have relocated to the island, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
On Thursday, the United States announced it would give millions in fresh funding through the WFP.
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“The United States is providing $73 million in new assistance for Rohingya refugees,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a post on X. “This food and nutrition support through @WFP will provide critically needed food and nutrition assistance for more than 1 million people.
“It is important that our international partners engage with sharing the burden with life-saving assistance such as this.”
Since 2017, Washington has been the biggest aid donor to the Rohingya refugees, contributing nearly $2.4 billion, according to the State Department.
The administration of interim Bangladesh leader Muhammad Yunus thanked the American government for the influx of funds.
More is needed
The latest plight of the Rohingya came to light two weeks ago when the head of the United Nations appealed to the international community for help after the WFP had announced the planned food rations cuts.
“I can promise that we’ll do everything to avoid it [a humanitarian crisis], and I will be talking to all the countries in the world that can support us in order to make sure that funds are made available,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said during his first trip to the refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh in nearly seven years.
A WFP official welcomed the news on Friday while warning that more was needed.
“While April ration cuts are averted, given the immense needs, we still need continued funding support or we will soon run out of funds again,” said Kun Li, WFP’s head of communication and advocacy in Asia and the Pacific.
Human rights advocates also expressed concerns about the ongoing plight of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority group, many of whom were forced from their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state following the August 2017 crackdown by government forces.
Last-minute support from donors had prevented “a worst-case scenario,” said Daniel Sullivan, the director for Africa, Asia and the Middle East at Refugees International.
“Renewed donor funds, including $73 million for WFP announced by the United States, will maintain rations at near the same levels,” he said in a statement. “However, broader aid cuts are already negatively affecting refugees and we remain deeply concerned that failure to renew more than minimal aid will lead to increased hunger, disease and avoidable deaths.”
A human rights advocate who lived in a Rohingya camp for six years spoke out about the plight of the refugees.
“I appreciate and thank the United States for stepping in to respond to the food reduction crisis and request other donor countries to continue funding the much-needed lifesaving assistance programs in the camps,” Refugees International Fellow Lucky Karim said in a statement.
“As past smaller cuts have shown, the drastic cut in rations would have accelerated malnutrition, disease, and negative coping mechanisms, including child marriage and human smuggling,” she said.
Back in Cox’s Bazar, a Rohingya expressed relief.
“We were worried, but now relieved,” Mohammad Nur, a leader of the Jadimura camp in the Teknaf sub-district, told BenarNews. “How can a person live with only $6?”
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.