Amid ration cuts, US grants $23M in aid to Rohingya in Bangladesh

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Amid sharp ration cuts in the holy month of Ramadan, the US has granted $23.8 million in humanitarian assistance to deliver urgent food and nutrition assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The fund will be channeled through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), according to a statement by the US Embassy in Dhaka on Monday.

USAID will work with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide critically needed food and nutrition, including electronic vouchers to purchase staple and fresh foods, feeding 925,000 refugees, with a focus on children and pregnant and lactating women in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, it added.

More than 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been housed in 33 congested refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, and some 30,000 in Bhasan Char camps, a silt island in the Bay of Bengal. Most of the refugees fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State in the Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation.

However, despite this latest contribution, a funding gap of nearly $100 million remains to meet the food and nutritional needs of the refugee population, according to the statement.

“The United States remains committed to delivering assistance to refugees and impacted communities in Bangladesh, but much more is needed. We urge other donors to join us in providing additional assistance to meet the needs of the Rohingya refugees,” said US Ambassador Peter Haas in the statement.

The envoy also urged the Bangladesh government to allow the Rohingya population to engage in more sustainable livelihood-building activities, enabling them to reduce their dependence on humanitarian aid.

Since August 2017, the US has provided over $2 billion in response to this regional crisis, including more than $1.6 billion to assist Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, read the statement.

The WFP, the leading humanitarian organization of the UN that provides food assistance to vulnerable communities, announced in February that food rations for Rohingya refugees would be reduced by 17% beginning March 1, to $10 per person from $12 a month.

The WFP cited a sharp drop in international funding for the decision and said further cuts were likely in April unless donors provided an urgent $125 million.