UN slashes support for Rohingya refugees in Indonesia due to U S cuts sources say

JAKARTA - The United Nations’ migration agency has slashed aid to hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, according to a letter seen by Reuters and two people briefed on the matter, because of massive funding cuts by their biggest donor, the United States.

In the letter, dated Feb 28, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it would be unable to provide healthcare and cash assistance to 925 Rohingya refugees sheltering in the western city of Pekanbaru from March 5, “due to resource constraints”. Some help would continue for the most vulnerable people, it said.

Many ethnic Rohingya - who are mostly Muslim, originally from Myanmar and constitute the worlds largest stateless population - escape squalid camps and persecution in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh each year, sailing aboard rickety boats to Thailand or Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia.

IOMs move was due to the decision by the Trump administration to cut most foreign assistance, said Mr Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a group that monitors the Rohingya crisis, and another person briefed on the matter.

In a statement to Reuters, IOM said it was “complying with all legal orders” as a result of the US government’s decision, which was “impacting our staff, operations, and the people we serve”.

The organisation remained “committed to delivering vital humanitarian assistance” and continued to engage donors and partners including the US to sustain critical services, it said.

The US embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move since President Donald Trump took office in January to halt most US foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAid) has thrown the humanitarian sector into turmoil globally.

Reuters reported on March 6 that the World Food Programme would halve rations to more than a million Rohingya