Rights group decries cut in UN food budget for Rohingya refugees

DHAKA, Bangladesh

A global human rights watchdog on Tuesday expressed concerns over the recent budget cut by the World Food Program (WFP) for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The world food assistance provider under the United Nations this week declared that it would cut food rations to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, by 17% from March 1, to $10 per person.

Referring to the economic crisis, the UN agency noted that the decision was due to a sharp drop in international funding, and said further cuts were likely in April unless donors urgently provided a further $125 million.

“When the 2022 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis received less than half the US$881 million needed for the year, the United Nations warned that refugees risked serious shortages in food and other essentials,” said a statement by Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director at the Human Rights Watch (HRW), claiming that the cuts have coincided with a rising cost of living, reducing purchasing power.

Referring to the warnings of several UN experts, the statement added that the food shortages could lead to further violence and unrest in the camp along with heightened risks of human trafficking.

“Hundreds have reportedly died making perilous boat journeys to seek new opportunities,” the statement noted.

It warned that as a result of such budget reduction children under five, adolescent girls, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers would be particularly at risk in Bangladesh’s congested camps, home to above 1.2 million Rohingya most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August 2017.

Referring to the acute malnutrition levels in the camps as high, the statement also quoted Onno Van Manen, the Save the Children country director in Bangladesh, as saying that the WFP “is being pushed to taking away nearly 20% of children's already very basic food intake.”

Funding shortfall means food aid will be slashed by nearly 20%, said Ganguly, adding that donors need to be contributing more to address the food crisis in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.

She also called on the donors to encourage the Bangladesh government to lift livelihood restrictions so that the Rohingya can better support themselves. “Refugees should not be considered a burden but a contributor to the host economy.”

Open letter to UN by Rohingya

Meanwhile, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s squalid makeshift camps in an open letter to the UN authorities said that any reduction in the WFP’s food allowance can have serious repercussions for their health and well-being.

“The reduction of food allowance for Rohingya refugees is a direct violation of humanitarian principles, which prioritizes the well-being and dignity of individuals in crisis situations,” said the letter.

Recalling the role of WFP as the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize winner and as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, the letter added that the UN has a responsibility to ensure that the basic needs of refugees are met, including access to food, shelter, and medical care.

The Rohingya, however, proposed recommendations in the letter to solve the prevailing crisis that include facilitating livelihood scopes so that the Rohingya people can create their own economy and increasing the salary of those Rohingya working as volunteers at different local and international NGOs in the camps.

Speaking to Anadolu, Sahat Zia Hero, a youth leader of Rohingya at the camp, said that despite various adverse situations across the world, the issue of Rohingya should not be deprioritized. “We are human beings in this civilized world and we have the right to survive with dignity and minimal basic rights. Otherwise, humanity will be defeated.”