Bangladesh may reduce the number of Rohingya refugees who are internally displaced from around one million starting next month due to a lack of funds, according to the UN foods company.
Many members of the oppressed and stateless Rohingya group, the majority of whom have fled from a 2017 defense crackdown in neighboring Myanmar, now reside in dirty relief camps in Bangladesh.
Subsequent help cuts have already caused severe pain for Rohingya in the crowded settlements, who rely on support and suffer from widespread malnourishment.
In a letter sent on Wednesday ( Mar. 5 ) by the UN World Food Programme ( WFP), it was revealed that” severe funding shortfalls” had caused a decrease in the number of monthly food vouchers from US$ 12.50 to US$ 6.50.
The email stated that “unfortunately, we have not yet received adequate funding, and cost-saving actions alone are insufficient.”
Md. Bangladesh’s immigrant agency Shamsud Douza stated to AFP that his office had join community leaders next week to explore the cuts.
The management of US President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to cut international aid has shocked people around the world by its actions.
However, according to Kun Li of WFP, the US continues to provide assistance to Rohingya refugees and that the reductions reflect a “funding gap across several sources.”
She told AFP that the amounts raised were only half the US$ 852 million that international aid organizations sought.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to meet Rohingya refugees to mark the yearly Muslim Ramadan quickly, so the letter on Wednesday comes weeks before their visit.