WFP further cuts aid for Muslim refugees in Bangladesh

By Admin 03 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 June 2023, Maungdaw

Muslim refugees taking shelter in Bangladesh are struggling to make ends meet as the World Food Programme (WFP) has further cut supplies as of this month.

In March, the United Nations agency reduced the monthly allowance from US$12 to US$10 per refugee. The agency has further reduced the allowance to US$8 per refugee as of June.

“We only get $8 as of this month. At first, we were given $12. It was then reduced to $10 and $8 now. So, we are having serious hardships,” said Zomal Hossin from Kutupalong refugee camp 1 in Bangladesh.

As Muslim refugees face restrictions on working, they mostly rely on food supplies provided by the UN and other aid agencies.

Ma Mi Mi Nara from the Kutupalong refugee camp said: “Some even cried because of the cut. How are we supposed to survive on that tiny amount? Even $12 was not enough for us. We don’t have jobs here, and we still can’t return home.”

“We want WFP to provide $12 like it did before. Some who are starving have fled to Malaysia and Myanmar at the risk of their lives,” said refugee Ko Aung Myaing.

WFP said that it was forced to reduce food supplies for Muslim refugees because of funding shortages. The WFP is currently short of US$56 million

Some 700,000 Muslims fled to Bangladesh during and following the Myanmar military’s counterinsurgency operations in response to attacks on police outposts in Maungdaw in 2017. The regime says it is working to take back an initial 1,000 Muslims to Myanmar.