Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe UN WFP urgently seeks funding to prevent food ration cuts for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who rely on aid for survival.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) called on Friday for urgent funding for its Bangladesh operations, warning that a funding deficit would curb rations for the Rohingya in the world's largest refugee settlement.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the United Nations would have to cut food rations to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from $12.50 to $6 per month in April after failing to secure funding.
While the WFP has not specified whether the reduction was due to the Trump administration's decision to cut U.S. foreign aid globally, an official has told Reuters it was likely as the United States had been the top donor in the Rohingya crisis.
"Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remain entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance for their survival. Any reduction in food assistance will push them deeper into hunger and force them to resort to desperate measures just to survive," Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Bangladesh, said in a statement.
The WFP said it had already started communicating with the Rohingya community about the potential ration cuts.
Bangladesh is sheltering more than one million Rohingya - members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar mainly in 2016 and 2017 - in overcrowded camps in the Cox's Bazar district, where they have only limited access to job opportunities or education.
Growing hunger in their home state of Rakhine in Myanmar drove out a majority of the 70,000 Rohingya who arrived in Bangladesh last year, Reuters reported.
The funding cuts in March come during the holy month of Ramadan and the WFP estimates it will need $15 million in April to sustain full rations.
(Writing by Tanvi Mehta; editing by Mark Heinrich)
The WFP has called for urgent funding for its operations in Bangladesh, warning that a funding deficit will lead to cuts in food rations for Rohingya refugees.
Food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are set to be cut from $12.50 to $6 per month starting in April due to funding shortages.
The funding cuts in March come during the holy month of Ramadan, which adds to the urgency of the situation as it impacts the ability of Rohingya refugees to access food.
Bangladesh is currently sheltering more than one million Rohingya refugees, who fled violent purges in Myanmar.
The WFP estimates that it will need $15 million in April to sustain full rations for the Rohingya refugees.
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