By: RO Maung Shwe
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent appeal for funding to prevent devastating food ration cuts for over one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
The agency warns of a critical shortfall that threatens its emergency response operations. To sustain full rations, WFP requires $15 million for April and $81 million until the end of 2025.
Without immediate funding, monthly food rations will be slashed in half—from $12.50 per person to just $6—right before the Rohingya community observes Eid, marking the end of Ramadan in late March.
WFP Bangladesh emphasized in a statement that this drastic reduction could have severe consequences. All Rohingya refugees currently receive vouchers, which they redeem for food at designated camp retailers.
Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.2 million Rohingya in the southeastern Cox’s Bazar district since they fled Myanmar following a brutal military crackdown in 2016 and 2017.
On Wednesday, WFP officially informed Bangladeshi refugee officials about its plan to halve food rations starting April 1 due to the funding crisis.
The Bangladesh government has attributed this shortfall to the recent decision by the U.S. administration to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which previously contributed 80% of WFP’s financial support for Rohingya refugees.
Adding to the crisis, over 100,000 new Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh in recent months, fleeing escalating violence in Myanmar. This continuous influx further strains the already limited resources available in the camps.
“The Rohingya refugee crisis remains one of the world’s largest and most protracted,” said WFP Country Director in Bangladesh, Dom Scalpelli.
“Rohingya refugees remain entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival. Any reduction in food assistance will push them deeper into hunger and force them to resort to desperate measures just to survive.” Scalpelli urged immediate support to prevent the crisis from worsening.
In 2023, severe funding shortages forced WFP to reduce rations from $12 to $8 per person per month. Though funding later allowed for a partial increase, another drastic cut would be catastrophic.
With no legal status, freedom of movement, or livelihood opportunities, further reductions will heighten protection and security risks for the Rohingya population.
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable, with increased risks of exploitation, trafficking, and domestic violence. Many children could be forced into labor or early marriage as families struggle to survive.
A Rohingya Woman’s Plea for Survival
Roshida Begum, a 43-year-old Rohingya refugee, originally from Ngakaing Dong village in Taungbazar, Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, shares her heartbreaking story.
“There are eight members in my family, including my mother-in-law. We fled to Bangladesh in 2000, leaving behind a life of fear and injustice.
The Myanmar authorities falsely accused my husband of being involved with an armed group simply because he worked in Bangladesh for a living.
When he returned home one year, the police demanded money from him. Unable to pay, he was accused of militant training in Bangladesh. It was a lie, but had he been arrested, he would have been killed. We had no choice but to flee.”
Since then, Roshida and her family have survived without official refugee status, meaning they initially had no access to food rations or aid.
Her husband worked daily, struggling to provide for the family. When the 2016–2017 crisis forced hundreds of thousands more Rohingya into Bangladesh, the government and humanitarian agencies finally began providing rations, albeit with strict movement restrictions.
“Now, our entire family depends on humanitarian aid. If the food rations are cut in half next month, how will we survive? Should we just prepare to die?” Roshida asks desperately. She explains the dire reality in the camps.
“We already sacrifice our own portions so our children can eat. Even then, we struggle to afford necessities and medical care. If our husbands try to work outside the camp, they get arrested. What are we supposed to do?”
Her voice carries a deep sense of despair. “The NGOs and the government gave us plates but are not giving us rice. If our husbands try to earn money, they are fined because they say we receive everything from aid organizations. You know our situation. The aid must continue. We are begging for humanitarian assistance just to stay alive.”
Upon hearing about the upcoming ration cuts, Roshida says she felt physically ill. “I have small children and elderly family members. How can we survive on such little food? Many people will die of hunger.”
She appeals directly to the international community, donors, and organizations that have supported the Rohingya. “Please continue providing us with rations. Without them, we have no other option but death.”
Roshida also believes that these restrictions are a deliberate attempt to force the Rohingya back to Myanmar under unbearable conditions.
“It seems like they want to make life so difficult for us that we return without justice. But we will not go back without our rights, safety, and security.”
She concludes with a powerful statement: “Our motherland is part of our faith. We want to return, but we need guarantees of justice, safety, and dignity.
If that happens, we don’t need rations anymore. But until then, we will not go back. Even if we starve here, we will not return without justice.”
A Call for Immediate Action
The looming ration cuts threaten the very survival of over a million Rohingya refugees. The international community must act swiftly to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Organizations and governments that have long supported the Rohingya must step up to ensure that these vulnerable people do not fall deeper into suffering.
With no legal rights, no freedom to work, and now even their basic food rations at risk, the Rohingya in Bangladesh are at a breaking point. The world cannot turn its back on them now. The crisis is urgent, and the time to act is now.
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