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

(Corrects first bullet point to make clear IOM has not halted all support)

By Stanley Widianto

JAKARTA (Reuters) -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 February 28, the International Organization for Migration 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 world's 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.

IOM's move was due to the decision by the Trump administration to cut most foreign assistance, said 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 U.S. government's decision, which was "impacting our staff, operations, and the people we serve".

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

The U.S. 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 U.S. foreign aid and dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has thrown the humanitarian sector into turmoil globally.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the World Food Programme would halve rations to more than a million Rohingya living in Bangladesh, which hosts the world's largest refugee settlement, to $6 per month.

The U.N. says about 2,800 Rohingya refugees live in Indonesia.

The 925 in Pekanbaru on Sumatra island, close to Malaysia, had arrived by boat and were entirely dependent on cash assistance, said Abdu Rahman, a Rohingya refugee in the city.

"People don't have support for their daily survival and can't eat since the refugees are not allowed to work," he said.

Hadi Sanjoyo, a senior official with the Pekanbaru government's task force overseeing refugee issues, said officials planned to talk to local non-profits about how to handle the situation, adding that he was concerned about the potential for unrest amid increased tension between the refugees and locals.

"They're our brothers and sisters, too," he said. "Humanity is beyond borders."

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Writing and additional reporting by Poppy McPherson; Editing by Alex Richardson)