KHANI Bangladesh urges immediate action as Rohingya food rations reduced

The Bangladesh Food Security Network (KHANI) has expressed deep concern over the World Food Programme's (WFP) decision to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, warning of a looming humanitarian disaster.

Effective 1 April, monthly food assistance per refugee will be reduced from $12.50 to $6 due to a severe funding shortfall, jeopardising food security and basic nutrition for over a million displaced Rohingyas, reads a press release.

In a statement today (15 March), KHANI Bangladesh urge the United Nations to uphold the full spectrum of human rights for Rohingya refugees, with a focus on their food security and dignity, by addressing the funding gap, restoring essential services, and ensuring long-term, sustainable support that enables self-reliance.

KHANI Bangladesh warns that the upcoming drastic reduction in food ration cuts are likely to trigger a food insecurity crisis among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. This comes amid an already dire humanitarian situation and ongoing funding shortages.

In 2024, Bangladesh appealed for $275,000,214 in humanitarian aid for the Rohingyas, but as of now, only $118,226,048 has been received, leaving a 57% funding gap.

Living in overcrowded camps, restricted by barbed wire and lacking legal rights to work or move freely, the Rohingya are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, making sustained support not only necessary but crucial as malnutrition continues to rise at an alarming rate.

Without urgent intervention, these cuts will have catastrophic consequences: further weakening food security, increasing child mortality risks, and heightening social instability and growing desperation in already overcrowded camps, the statement reads.

Since the violence in Rakhine State in August 2017, as of 31 January, 1,005,675 Rohingya refugees currently live in Bangladesh.

In 2023, WFP cut monthly rations from $12 to $8 per person, leading to a sharp decline in food consumption and worsening malnutrition.

At present, Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar are now experiencing the worst levels of malnutrition since the 2017 mass displacement. Malnutrition rates among children have exceeded 15%, and cases of severe acute malnutrition surged by 25% in January 2025 compared to the same month in 2024, followed by an even steeper 27% increase in February.

This alarming trend is driven by multiple factors in 2024: the deteriorating security situation and underfunding which led to reduced food rations in the first half, prolonged monsoon rains in 2024 that worsened sanitation conditions and triggered diarrhea, cholera, and dengue outbreaks, and a rising number of new families seeking refuge in the camps.

During the visit of Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General at the Rohingya Camp on yesterday, he said, "We are at risk of cutting the food rations in this camp. That would be an unmitigated disaster that we cannot accept because people will suffer and even people will die."

A source from Save the Children quoted Sufiya, a 46-year-old Rohingya woman who said food security is one way to ensure more peace in the camps. 'If there is peace in the stomach, then the world will also be at peace'.

The international community must sustain strong, visible, and measurable efforts to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, with a priority on ensuring food security through timely, flexible, and adequate funding. Until a sustainable solution, including voluntary and dignified repatriation, is achieved, urgent support is needed to prevent further deterioration in nutrition and overall humanitarian conditions in the camps.

Aid efforts must shift toward a sustainable, long-term approach that builds resilience by incorporating livelihoods, skills training, and economic opportunities for both Rohingya refugees and host communities.

According to WFP, to sustain full rations, US$15 million is required for April, and US$81 million until the end of 2025.

KHANI Bangladesh calls on the international community to take immediate action to ensure urgent, flexible, adequate humanitarian aid for the food and nutrition support for Rohingya refugees to prevent further humanitarian disaster. Food security is not just a necessity but a fundamental human right, as enshrined in Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"To ensure full human rights for the Rohingya, the global community must take responsibility for guaranteeing their food security as long as they remain in these camps. Without such action, food insecurity may lead to increased trafficking, arrests within the camps, and even loss of life during dangerous border crossings, further destabilizing host communities. Therefore, we call for immediate measures to secure adequate food assistance alongside long-term strategies to address rehabilitation challenges and support safe, dignified repatriation", said Nurul Alam Masud, secretary of KHANI Bangladesh.

KHANI Bangladesh stands in solidarity with the Rohingya community and calls for urgent global action to uphold their fundamental rights and dignity.