We are simply going to starve UN chief visits Rohingya refugees amid aid funding shortfall

COX’S BAZAR - The United Nations will do all it can to help prevent food rations from being cut for Rohingyas in camps in Bangladesh, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on March 14 during a visit to the world’s largest refugee settlement.

Mr Guterres visited the border district of Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh after the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced potential cuts to food rations for the Rohingya refugees following the shutdown of USAid operations.

Bangladesh is sheltering over one million Rohingya – members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar – in camps in the Cox’s Bazar district, where they have limited access to jobs or education.

Mr Guterres said “dramatic” cuts in humanitarian aid announced by the United States and European countries meant there was a risk of food rations to the camp being reduced.

“I will be talking to all countries in the world that can support us in order to make sure that funds are made available to avoid a situation in which people would suffer even more,” Mr Guterres said.

The WFP said it may reduce food rations for the Rohingya people from US$12.50 (S$16.70) to US$6 per month from April because of a lack of funding, raising fears among aid workers of rising hunger in the overcrowded camps.

“My voice will speak loud to the international community, saying we need urgently more support because this population badly needs that support to be able to live in dignity here in Bangladesh,” Mr Guterres said.

The WFP said this month the reduction was due to a broad shortfall in donations, not a decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration to cut US foreign aid globally, including USAid.

But a senior Bangladeshi official told Reuters the US cuts likely played