DHAKA: The UN’s food agency said Friday it had halted its plans to halve rations for the million-plus Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh after a successful appeal for more foreign aid.
Huge numbers of the persecuted and stateless Rohingya community live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most arriving after fleeing a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.
The World Food Programme said in a letter earlier this month that “severe funding shortfalls” would force it to cut monthly food rations from $12.50 to $6.00 per person from April.
That decision had been halted “thanks to the timely support of the international community, including the US,” agency spokesperson Kun Li told AFP.
US President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on foreign aid in January pending a review, after which Washington announced the cancellation of 83 percent of programmes at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Li said the US had allocated $73 million for Rohingya refugees this year along with “a significant in-kind contribution”.
“While the April ration cuts have been averted, given the immense needs, we still require continued support, or we will soon run out of funds again,” Li added.
Food funds have still been slightly reduced.
UN considering humanitarian channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar
The Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazar will receive a monthly ration of $12 per person, while those resettled on the outlying island of Bhasan Char will be allocated $13, Bangladeshi refugee agency spokesperson Shamsud Douza Nayan told AFP.
The decision came two weeks after a UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Rohingya camps for a Ramadan solidarity visit and joined thousands of Rohingya refugees for a fast-breaking iftar meal.
During his visit, he pledged to do everything possible to restore aid.
“I can promise that we will do everything to avoid it, and I will be talking to all countries in the world that can support us to ensure that funds are made available to prevent further suffering and even loss of life,” Guterres said.
The UN last week announced a fundraising campaign seeking $1 billion in funding for Rohingya refugees and their host communities in Bangladesh for 2025-26.
Successive aid cuts have already caused severe hardship among the Rohingya, who rely entirely on humanitarian assistance and suffer from widespread malnutrition.
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