Malnutrition has reached its worst levels in Rohingya children at the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, the United Nation’s children fund said, amid alarm over likely drastic cuts in food assistance.
The number of children of the ethnic Rohingya minority needing emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Cox’s Bazar camps has increased by 27 per cent in February 2025 compared to the same period last year, the Unicef said on Tuesday.
Over 15 per cent of children in the camps are now malnourished – the highest recorded level since the 2017 mass displacement of Rohingya refugees.
Since 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled massive-scale violence in Myanmar, joining approximately 300,000 already in Bangladesh from previous displacements, culminating in the world’s largest refugee settlement.
However, the already overcrowded camps have been witnessing a new surge since the civil war deepened in Myanmar after the 2021 coup and nearly one million more refugees have arrived in the camps.
In the camps, the majority of the population consist of children and women, who have been the worst affected by the recent cuts in humanitarian aid due to the ongoing worldwide crunch in funding after the Donald Trump administration suspended the USAID programme.
Unicef said nearly 500,000 children live in the world’s largest refugee settlement and the families are facing emergency levels of malnutrition.
It comes as The Independent reported that the UN’s World Food Program, which provides rations in the camps, has decided to slash its food rations to half from April due to “severe funding shortfalls”.
WFP said rations would be halved from $12.5 to $6 per person beginning from April, marking a significant reduction in rations which charities say were already insufficient.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s chair for the agency overseeing the refugee camps, warned of “grave consequences for the community” as the previous budget for ration was already not enough for the families.
“Even $12.50 was not sufficient, as food inflation in Bangladesh is very high at the moment. This will have an enormous impact on public health and nutrition,” he said.
Charities across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, are scrambling for critical funding after the Trump administration announced a spending freeze and the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The move has sent shockwaves through the development community, which is deeply reliant on US funding.
Unicef said the cases of malnutrition among children rose from 819 to 1,021 cases, marking a 25 per cent jump.
Cases further surged from 836 to 1,062 cases, making up 27 per cent of cases.
The surge is driven by multiple factors, such as the impact of intermittent food ration cuts over the previous two years, prolonged monsoon rains in 2024, and a growing number of families fleeing violence and seeking shelter in the camps in recent months, according to the agency.
It said the ration cuts contributed to poor-quality diets among children, deteriorating their health further.
“For now, we can provide the services that Rohingya mothers come seeking, and that very sick children need, but as needs keep rising and funding declines, families are telling us they are terrified of what will happen to their babies if there are further food ration cuts and if lifesaving nutrition treatment services stop,” said Unicef representative in Bangladesh, Rana Flowers.
Amid a deepening crisis in the camps, UN chief Antonio Guterres and Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus are set to visit the camps on 14 March as part of the annual Ramadan solidarity tour.
Mr Guterres would take part in iftar, the breaking of the fast, with refugees and members of the Bangladeshi host community, and promised continued support to the crisis.
Last week, the UN migration agency said it slashed its aid to the refugees in Indonesia. The cut directly affected healthcare and cash assistance to 925 Rohingya refugees sheltering in Pekanbaru “due to resource constraints”. However, it was reversed earlier this week.
