By admin 
Food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been reduced by half by the World Food Programme (WFP), just days after refugees in Kenya protested against similar cuts to their aid.
The WFP, which relies entirely on voluntary contributions and provides food assistance to over 150 million people globally, announced that due to insufficient funding, it would be reducing the food voucher amount from 1,515 Bangladeshi taka to 726 taka (£4.60) per person.
According to refugee authorities in Bangladesh, the decision was made after unsuccessful fundraising efforts and cost-cutting measures failed to close the funding gap.
Daniel Sullivan, director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International, criticized the aid reductions as “indefensible harm” caused by funding cuts from major donors, including the U.S. and the U.K.
Aid budgets were already under strain, but the situation worsened after Donald Trump froze U.S. aid spending in January, followed by the U.K.’s February decision to reduce aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP.
Sullivan warned that the drastic reduction in daily food aid would have dire consequences for more than a million refugees, impacting health and security in the world’s largest refugee settlement. He also noted that similar cuts in 2023 led to increased malnutrition and gender-based violence, which were only mitigated when the U.S. later stepped in to fill the funding gap.
“With USAID gutted and other donors also cutting back, the prospect of restoring food aid looks grim, and lives will be lost as a result,” Sullivan said.
Rohingya refugees receive monthly food vouchers on cards, which they can use to purchase food from WFP-designated outlets. Under the new cuts, the vouchers will only be sufficient to buy around 10kg of rice, 1.5kg of lentils, and 500g of salt per month.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, warned that Rohingya refugees had already been struggling to survive on the previous food ration.
“Reducing rations by more than half will have a devastating impact on refugee health and nutrition, particularly for children and women, who make up 78% of the refugee population,” Rahman said.
He also cautioned that desperation caused by food shortages could fuel crime within the camps, making it harder for the government to maintain law and order.
Over 1.3 million Rohingya refugees live in the camps of Cox’s Bazar. Nur Qadr, a Rohingya teacher from the Jamtoli refugee camp, expressed his frustration:
“It feels like the world wants to starve us to death. We are human beings, just like those in the West. We are barely surviving.”
Jafor Alom, a refugee in Balukhali camp, highlighted that the cost of food and essential goods in Bangladesh has more than doubled in the last four years.
“We were hoping for an increase in the food ration, but instead, it’s being cut further. Now, we all have to starve,” he said.
The crisis is not limited to Bangladesh. Last week, WFP informed refugees in Kenya’s Kakuma camp that it would reduce rations to 3kg of cereals per month, eliminating beans and oil—amounting to just 40% of the full ration. The announcement led to protests, during which four refugees were injured in clashes with Kenyan police.
Meanwhile, in Somalia, WFP has warned that one million people could face severe hunger due to conflict, drought, and inflation. However, the agency says it is $300 million short of the funding required to sustain aid for the next six months.
In a statement, WFP said: “As humanitarian needs grow, limited funding is forcing life-saving programs to be reduced or cut entirely. Starting in April, WFP will provide food and cash assistance to 820,000 vulnerable people per month, down from a peak of 2.2 million reached monthly in 2024.”
Gill Bikram Singh