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By Ruma Paul
DHAKA (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme has managed to sustain food assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, though rations have been slightly reduced due to funding shortages, officials said on Thursday.
Under the revised system, each refugee in the world’s largest refugee settlement in the southeastern border district of Cox’s Bazar will receive $12 per month, down from the previous $12.50.
Earlier this month, WFP warned that without urgent financial support, it might be forced to halve food rations to just $6 per person in April. A similar reduction in 2023, which lowered food rations to $8 per person, led to a sharp increase in malnutrition before it was reversed.
"We are deeply grateful. At least we can now survive. Otherwise, we would simply be starving," Joinul Mostafa, a Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar, told Reuters.
A WFP spokesperson said it bridged the funding gap “with timely contributions from donors,” without giving details. Separately, the U.S. said on Thursday it will provide $73 million in new financial aid to Rohingya refugees through the WFP.
Bangladesh is sheltering more than 1 million Rohingya - members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar - in camps in the Cox’s Bazar district, where they have limited access to jobs or education.
About 70,000 Rohingya from Myanmar fled to Bangladesh last year, driven in part by growing hunger in their home state of Rakhine.
The Office of Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, which oversees refugee camps, said the food rations will help sustain food security and nutrition among the refugees.
“We also urge the international community to step forward with the necessary funding so that these life-saving programs can be sustained in the long term," it said in a statement.
Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi officials have worried that cuts would worsen hunger, curtail critical healthcare and fuel crime, while increasing the risks of human trafficking and radicalization. The Inter-Sector Coordination Group, which oversees relief operations, said about 300,000 refugees have already faced disruptions in healthcare services.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Rod Nickel)
