Food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been cut in half, just days after refugees in Kenya protested against a similar reduction in their rations.
The agency responsible for distributing aid, which relies entirely on voluntary contributions and supports over 150 million people, stated that a funding shortfall has forced it to reduce the food voucher per person from 1,515 Bangladeshi taka to 726 taka (£4.60).
Authorities in Bangladesh were informed that efforts to secure additional funding had failed, and cost-cutting measures were insufficient to bridge the gap.
Daniel Sullivan, the director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International, said the reduction in aid for Rohingya refugees was a consequence of “indefensible harm” caused by cuts from major donors like the US, UK, and others.
While aid budgets had already been strained, further challenges arose in January when Donald Trump froze US aid spending, followed by the UK’s decision in February to reduce its aid allocation from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP.
Sullivan warned that this drastic reduction in daily food supplies would have devastating consequences for more than a million refugees, affecting their health and safety in the world’s largest refugee settlement.
He noted that when food aid was previously reduced in 2023—until the US provided emergency funding—the rates of malnutrition and gender-based violence increased.
“With aid budgets severely cut and donors continuing to scale back, the prospect of restoring food assistance is bleak and will cost lives,” Sullivan added.
The monthly food voucher, distributed via a card system, is redeemable at designated aid distribution outlets in the refugee camps. According to refugees, the current voucher amount will only be enough to purchase 10kg of rice, 1.5kg of lentils, and 500g of salt.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, said that Rohingya refugees were already struggling to survive on the previous ration levels.
More than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees live in camps in Cox’s Bazar. Nur Qadr, a Rohingya teacher from the Jamtoli refugee camp, expressed his frustration, saying, “It feels like the world wants to starve us to death. We are human beings, just like people in other nations. We are already barely getting by.”
Jafor Alom, a refugee in Balukhali camp, pointed out that food and basic necessities in Bangladesh have more than doubled in price over the past four years.
“To cope with the rising costs, we had hoped for an increase in the $12.50 [£9.70] food ration. But instead, they are cutting it further. We will all go hungry now,” he said.
Last week, refugees in Kenya were informed that their food rations would be reduced to 3kg of cereals per month, with beans and oil removed from the supply—leaving them with just 40% of the full ration.
Additionally, the aid agency warned this week that a million people in Somalia could face crisis levels of hunger due to conflict, drought, and inflation. However, it said it would have to scale back assistance because it was $300 million short of the funds required for the next six months.
In a statement on Somalia, the agency said: “As humanitarian needs grow, limited funding is forcing life-saving programs to be scaled back or cut entirely. From April, we will provide food and cash assistance to 820,000 vulnerable people each month—down from the peak of 2.2 million reached monthly in 2024.”
