The United Nations (UN) will slash monthly food aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from $12.50 to $6 per month from April due to a funding crisis, the World Food Programme (WFP) informed Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Citing funding shortages, WFP stated in the letter that it had been trying to maintain the $12.50 allocation per person but failed to secure sufficient donor support. Diplomatic sources attribute the funding crisis to the suspension of financial aid by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Previously, US funding accounted for nearly 80 percent of WFP’s support for Rohingya refugees. Following the assumption of office by US President Donald Trump on January 20, USAID funding was halted worldwide, contributing to WFP’s resource shortfall.
Bangladesh is sheltering more than one million Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar mostly in 2016 and 2017, in overcrowded camps in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar where they have limited access to job opportunities or education.