COX’S BAZAR (AP) – Rohingya refugees in crammed Bangladeshi camps say they are worried about a United States (US) decision to cut food rations by half beginning next month, while a refugee official says the reduction will impact the nutrition of more than one million refugees and create “social and mental pressure”.
US President Donald Trump abruptly stopped most foreign aid and dismantled the US Agency for International Development, which has significantly hampered the global humanitarian sector. Trump’s January 20 executive order froze the funding for a 90-day review. The World Food Program (WFP), the main United Nations (UN) food agency, recently announced that cuts to food rations will take effect from April 1 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
More than 700,000 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 nation. Following a military 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.
“They used to get USD12.50 per month, and from now USD6, this will greatly affect them,” additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner of Bangladesh Shamsud Douza 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.
