United States to provide $73 million in food assistance for Rohingya

The United States will provide $73 million in new financial assistance to ensure food security and proper nutrition for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, amid concerns that aid cuts could deepen the crisis for the world's largest stateless population.

This food and nutrition support through WFP [UN World Food Programme] will provide critically needed food and nutrition assistance for more than one million people, read an X post by Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the US Department of State, on Thursday.

 “It is important that our international partners engage with sharing the burden with life-saving assistance such as this,” she added.

On Thursday, the WFP announced a revised system, under which each refugee in the Cox’s Bazar camps would receive $12 per month, down from the previous $12.50.

Earlier this month, WFP warned that without urgent financial support, it might be forced to halve food rations to just $6 per person in April. A similar reduction in 2023, which lowered food rations to $8 per person, led to a sharp increase in malnutrition before it was reversed.

A WFP spokesperson said it bridged the funding gap “with timely contributions from donors,” without giving details. Separately, the U.S. said on Thursday it will provide $73 million in new financial aid to Rohingya refugees through the WFP.

Bangladesh is sheltering more than 1 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.

About 70,000 Rohingya from Myanmar fled to Bangladesh last year, driven in part by growing hunger in their home state of Rakhine.

The Office of Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, which oversees refugee camps, said the food rations will help sustain food security and nutrition among the refugees.

 “We also urge the international community to step forward with the necessary funding so that these life-saving programs can be sustained in the long term," it said in a statement.

Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi officials have worried that cuts would worsen hunger, curtail critical healthcare and fuel crime, while increasing the risks of human trafficking and radicalization. The Inter-Sector Coordination Group, which oversees relief operations, said about 300,000 refugees have already faced disruptions in healthcare services.