The international community must urgently step up and deliver the necessary support to avoid the devastating impact on the lives of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh following the announcement of severe aid cuts by the World Food Programme (WFP), Amnesty International said today ahead of the visit of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Interviews recently conducted by Amnesty International with refugees show how the Rohingya community is bracing for the extreme impact of the deep cuts in WFP funding for about one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from next month. According to the UNHCR, 95% of Rohingya households depend on humanitarian assistance. Plans by the World Food Programme to halve food rations to a mere $6 a month for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will have a devastating impact on their lives at a time when resources were already stretched to the limit. According to a media report, the WFP stated that the funding shortfall is a result of an overall decline in funding, rather than being expressly linked to the freeze on US foreign aid by President Donald Trump.
“The funding shortfall will only exacerbate the existing desperate shortage of essential supplies and services in the camps. The impact of this will be aggravated for those most at risk of marginalization and discrimination among the refugees – especially children, pregnant women and the older persons,” said Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
“The Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazaar have little alternative but to rely on WFP aid. Their access to job opportunities is severely restricted by the Government of Bangladesh which has prohibited their movement outside of camps.”
The funding shortfall will only exacerbate the existing desperate shortage of essential supplies and services in the camps.
Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International
Rohingya refugees forced to reduce the number of meals
Amnesty International spoke with 6 young Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazaar following the WFP announcement.
Mohamed Ayes, an 18-year-old student who arrived in Cox’s Bazaar in 2017 after a violent crackdown by the Myanmar military that drove more than 740,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh, said that the projected food assistance might be insufficient for three meals per day. “Some will have to reduce meals,” he said.
According to 23-year-old Mohamed Mirza, a volunteer in the camps, at the current inflation rates, the $6 per month will only be sufficient for minimum quantities of basics like rice, lentils and salt, leaving no money to buy anything else to fulfil their nutritional needs, including milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables. “It is going to impact us very badly,” he said.
Amaarah*, a 21-year-old volunteer, said that under the previous scheme each person in the family would receive 13kg of rice per month. However, this will now be reduced to about 10kg, a bare minimum for daily survival.
‘Will you be able to survive on only $6 per month?’
The WFP cuts will exacerbate the already rampant malnutrition among Rohingya refugees, particularly putting women and children at increased risk. Nearly half of Rohingya refugee children showed physical signs of malnutrition, including 15% of children aged between 6 months to 5 years, the worst levels since 2017. According to the UNHCR, over 75% of the Rohingya refugee population are women and children.
The WFP had previously reduced the monthly ration, from $12 to $8 per person, in 2023. While rations were increased after additional funding was subsequently received, the latest cut will likely have similar or even more devastating effects. According to UNICEF, in February 2025, there was already a 27% increase in children needing treatment for acute malnutrition compared to last year, and with further ration cuts, more children could fall victim to this life-threatening condition.
Sumaiya*, 19, said: “Everyone is asking how they will feed their children. We are all mentally stressed…We cannot use less food. If it is not enough for you, it is not enough for us. We are all human.”
Women-headed households will suffer immensely as a result of the cuts. The few means for income generation that refugees have, are even more restricted for women. As a result, women-headed households usually rely solely on food assistance to meet their nutritional needs. According to one refugee*, some women-headed households may be forced to beg to survive. Other refugees who spoke to Amnesty International flagged the increased risk of exploitation and violence this brings for women and girls, as WFP reported was experienced following the ration cuts in 2023.
The new announcement comes at a time when tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh seeking shelter from an escalating armed conflict in Myanmar, which is further straining limited resources.
Amnesty International’s research from October 2024 also shows how Rohingya families were being forced to share resources with newly arrived relatives and others from Myanmar, where they had fled from clashes between the Myanmar military and a rebel group.
Donor countries must take immediate steps to bridge the funding shortfalls to prevent an already precarious situation from escalating further.
Smriti Singh
Meanwhile, as a direct result of the USAID freeze, healthcare services in the Rohingya refugee camps too have also been impacted. At least five hospitals that relied on US funding have halted services, and 14 facilities which provide physiotherapy and other treatment have shut down.
“Donor countries must take immediate steps to bridge the funding shortfalls to prevent an already precarious situation from escalating further. Without that support, the Rohingya, who are already living through one of the world’s largest refugee crises, will be thrown into even deeper levels of hunger and insecurity. This must be avoided at all costs,” said Smriti Singh.
“The interim Government of Bangladesh must also ratify the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. They must allow access to the labour market for the Rohingya to ensure not just their survival but to help lift them out of cyclic despair and the damage caused by aid cuts.”
*Names changed or withheld to protect identity.
Header image: Rohingya refugees walk along a road near the office of slain community Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah, who was shoot dead by gunmen last month, at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on October 6, 2021. Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images.
