In March, the value of food vouchers for camp residents was reduced from $12 per person per month to $10, and in June, to just $8; the equivalent of 27 cents per day.
“Cutting the ration is our last resort. Many donors have prioritized funding but what we have received is not enough,” Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Bangladesh, said in a release on Wednesday.
“This is it it is absolutely critical that we restore the Rohingya families to the full assistance they deserve. The longer we wait, the more hunger we will see in the camps – we are already seeing more children admitted to malnutrition treatment programs.
More than 950,000 Rohingya remain stranded in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, southern Bangladesh. Most of them fled their homes in northern Myanmar after widespread and systematic attacks in August 2017 by the country’s armed forces that former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
‘Reliable source only’
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which has been helping Rohingya refugees since the outbreak of the crisis, said WFP food aid is “the only reliable source they can rely on to meet their basic food and nutrition needs.”
“But since the beginning of the year, this lifeline has been under severe pressure due to reduced donor funding.”
Along with fresh food aid, WFP implements nutrition programs for pregnant and lactating women and children under five years of age.
Despite this additional support, vulnerable households still struggle to make ends meet. The only solution to prevent the situation from worsening is to restore full rations for the entire Rohingya population immediately, UNHCR said.
Falling donor funding
In addition to WFP, other UN entities and humanitarian agencies are feeling the effects of falling funding from donors.
The 2023 Rohingya humanitarian crisis response plan, which requires about $875 million to reach nearly one million refugees in need, is only a quarter funded.
The effects of such cuts will be particularly harmful to women and children, who make up more than 75 percent of the refugee population and face a higher risk of abuse, exploitation and gender-based violence, UNHCR warns.
Without enough food and no way to generate legal income, refugees resort to more desperate measures to survive, such as child marriage and child labor, as well as embarking on dangerous boat trips.
Livelihood programs are needed
As the Rohingya refugee situation worsens and needs continue to grow, more support is needed from the international community.
Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, said that the only way to prevent humanitarian conditions in the camps from worsening, is to invest in education, skills training and livelihood opportunities.
“This will allow the refugees to be self-reliant and partially fulfill their basic needs by their own means – and above all, to prepare them for rebuilding their lives when they voluntarily and safely return to Myanmar.”