Food ration cuts in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh trigger protests

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh held a rally to protest the repeated ration cuts by the UN.

The refugees also protested the decision by Myanmar's military junta to take back some Rohingya without giving them citizenship rights, a long contested issue.

Muhammad Ayaz, 35, who lives at the Teknaf refugee camp in the country's southeastern coast, told Anadolu that the food support cut by the UN has pushed them to starvation.

Women and children are the worst victims of the food ration cut, he added.

He urged the global community, including the UN, to immediately ensure the necessary food support and other basic needs as the refugees in Bangladesh completely depend on aid for their survival.

Earlier, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced to cut food ration further for Rohingya refugees to $8 from $10 per month, per day from June 1. In March, the ration cut was reduced from $12 to $10 in March due to a reduction in refugee response support money.

Mohammed Rezuwan Khan, another protester, told Anadolu that if things continue going downhill, they will be left with no option but to "steal food for survival."

“Rohingya lives have been stuck in a quagmire. Sometimes I feel we will go mad," he said.

More than 750,000 Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State in August 2017 and fled to Bangladesh, according to Amnesty International. The figure has swelled to 1.2 million in recent years, according to the Bangladesh government's estimates.

In a four-day visit to the refugee camp last week, Kelly T. Clements, UN deputy high commissioner for refugees, said that Rohingya refugees living in the camps are completely reliant on humanitarian aid for their basic needs.

However, the minimum funding for this assistance is no longer available, she said.

Humanitarian agencies have appealed for more than $876 million this year to support the refugees in Bangladesh.

As of June 2023, the Joint Response Plan for supporting Rohingya refugees was only 24% funded.