By: RO Maung Shwe
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has announced a significant reduction in food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Starting next month, the monthly food allowance will be slashed from $12.50 to just $6 per person unless additional funding is secured.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s top official overseeing the refugee camps, confirmed that the $6.50 reduction will take effect on April 1, expressing grave concern over its implications.
“The current rations are already insufficient,” Rahman stated. “A further reduction will push the Rohingya to an unimaginable humanitarian crisis.”
A spokesperson for WFP in Dhaka clarified that unless the organization raises an urgent $81 million, it will have no choice but to impose the cuts.
The WFP has long struggled to secure sustained funding for the Rohingya response, despite Bangladesh hosting over a million Rohingya who fled genocidal military operations in Myanmar during the 2016–2017 crisis.
These refugees, living in overcrowded and restricted camps, have minimal access to employment, education, or mobility, making them entirely reliant on humanitarian aid.
In an official letter to Rahman, the WFP explained that despite efforts to sustain the $12.50 rations, it had been unable to gather sufficient funds.
The letter warned that any further reduction in food aid would fall below the minimum survival threshold, failing to meet even the most basic dietary needs of refugees.
The WFP particularly highlighted the dire consequences for pregnant and breastfeeding women, who already suffer from severe nutritional deficiencies in the camps.
Humanitarian Aid Shortfall: A Looming Catastrophe
While the United States has been the largest donor to the Rohingya response, the broader decline in international contributions has left the humanitarian operation in jeopardy.
Cuts in U.S. foreign aid, particularly under the Trump administration, resulted in severe disruptions in camp services. Already, reductions in funding have impacted healthcare, waste management, and other critical services, further deepening the crisis.
Rahman warned that the impending food cuts would create “a grievous problem” for the stateless Rohingya, who are trapped in a cycle of vulnerability due to their lack of legal recognition and access to rights.
“With the rations already insufficient, reducing them further will push the community toward absolute desperation,” he added.
Voices from the Ground: ‘How Will We Survive?’
The reduction in food assistance has sparked fear, distress, and hopelessness among the Rohingya, whose survival depends entirely on humanitarian aid.
Rabiya Khatun, 54, lives in a crowded camp in Cox’s Bazar with her family of seven. She says her family needs at least four kilograms of rice daily, along with vegetables, to meet their basic needs.
“With only $6 per month, we will barely afford rice, let alone anything else,” she lamented. “My husband and I are old and need nutritious food, which we can’t get from WFP’s general rations.”
Rabiya recalled the severe hardship her family endured when rations were cut to $8 in 2023, describing it as the most difficult time she has faced in the camps. “We are constantly being told to eat less and survive on less. But how much less can we take?”
Fatema Khatun, 46, a mother of eleven, expressed similar fears. “If the rations are reduced, my family will starve.
We have no other means to survive,” she said. She recalled how, during a previous ration cut, three of her children became severely malnourished and had to be treated with emergency therapeutic food.
Her husband, who works for an NGO, earns only 8,000 BDT a month, which barely covers their essential needs. “This cut will make life impossible,” she said, warning that it could drive many into criminal activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, and theft out of sheer desperation.
Saddam Hussein, 55, who has a family of five, also expressed deep concern. “We are terrified of what will happen.
We have no jobs, no freedom to work, and no land to grow food. How can we survive?” Saddam called on the international community to fulfill its obligations and provide urgent aid.
“If the world turns its back on us, the least they can do is open the borders and let us return to our homeland – even if that means dying there.”
Bhasan Char Refugees Fear the Worst
Rohingya refugees living on Bhasan Char, an isolated island, face an even more precarious situation.
Mohammed Younus, 34, who fled genocide in Myanmar, said, “More than 95% of Rohingya families here rely on aid. If the rations are cut, what will happen to us? We live on an island with no work opportunities, no land, and no way to provide for ourselves. If we don’t get food, we will simply die.”
A Plea for Urgent International Action
The drastic cut to food assistance will have severe and far-reaching consequences. With no alternative means of survival, refugees are being pushed to the brink of hunger, malnutrition, and unrest.
The Rohingya have already endured decades of ethnic cleansing, persecution, and statelessness. This latest blow from the international aid system underscores their continued abandonment by the global community.
If immediate funding is not secured, the crisis will spiral further out of control, leaving over a million people in desperate need.
As Rabiya Khatun put it, “We didn’t come here by choice. We fled genocide. If the world wants to cut us off, where do they expect us to go?”
