Rohingya refugees in crammed Bangladeshi camps say they are worried about a U.S. decision to cut food rations by half beginning next month, while a refugee official says the reduction will impact the nutrition of more than 1 million refugees and create “social and mental pressure.”
President Donald Trump abruptly stopped most foreign aid and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has significantly hampered the global humanitarian sector. Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order froze the funding for a 90-day review.
The World Food Program, the main U.N. food agency, recently announced that cuts to food rations will take effect from April 1 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where dozens of camps are inhabited by Rohingya refugees.
More than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar starting in late August 2017 when Myanmar’s military launched a “clearance operation.” The ethnic group faces discrimination and are denied citizenship and other rights in the Buddhist-majority nation. Following a miliary takeover in 2021, the country has been engulfed in an armed conflict widely seen as civil war.
It was not immediately clear if the WFP’s decision was directly related to the Trump administration’s action.
“We received a letter that (says) previously it was $12.50, and now it is $6. They used to get $12.50 per month, and from now $6, this will greatly affect them,” Shamsud Douza, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner of Bangladesh, told The Associated Press.
“As the food is cut, they will get less nutritious food, which may lead to a lack of nutrition. There will be social and mental pressure created amongst the Rohingya people in their community. They will have to look for an alternative for the food,” he said.
Douza said there are more sectors where budgets have been cut beyond the food rations, but he would not say whether WFP cuts were related to the U.S. funding rollback.
“Generally, there will be less (support) for the (Rohingya) response after the funding cuts. The response already has been slowed, and some people, including Rohingya, have lost their jobs, and some services are reduced. It does not bring a good result when the available services get reduced,” he said.
The interim Bangladesh government said the end of USAID payments would stop other projects in Bangladesh, but funding for Rohingya refugees will continue to flow.
The U.S. has been the top donor to Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees, providing the U.N. with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The U.S. usually provides almost half of the aid money spent on the humanitarian response to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which provided about $300 million in 2024.
As the news of the impending food reductions spread through the camps in Cox’s Bazar, fear and frustration gripped the refugees.
“I am afraid now about how I am going to run my family, as we don’t have any income-generating opportunities here. I got scared when I heard it,” 40-year-old Manzur Ahmed said. “How will I buy rice, chilies, salt, sugar and dal, let alone fish, meat and vegetables, with 700 taka ($6)? We won’t even be able to buy (cooking) oil. How are we going to get them?”
Medical treatment also is decreasing, refugees said.
“When we go to the hospital, they don’t provide medicines unless it’s an emergency. They only provide medicines to the very emergency patients. Earlier, they would treat anyone who felt unwell, but now they only provide treatment to those who are in an emergency,” 32-year-old Dildar Begum said.
Hundreds of thousands have lived in Bangladesh for decades and about 70,000 crossed the border from Myanmar in 2024. During fighting with the military junta, the opposition force known as the Arakan Army effectively took over the Rakhine state where Rohingya were displaced and took shelter in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh says Rohingya refugees must return to Myanmar, which has been accused in an international court of genocide against Rohingya.
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Alam reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
