Malnutrition crisis deepens for Rohingya refugees
UNICEF warns that malnutrition among Rohingya children in Bangladesh has surged by 27%.
The crisis is worsening as funding to the agency declines.
The Bangladesh government blames the funding cut on the Trump administration’s shutdown of USAID, which supports 80% of the World Food Program’s aid to the Rohingya.
More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees now live in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar since fleeing brutal military violence in Burma in 2017 which some has been called a genocide.
More than half a million children now face emergency levels of malnutrition — the highest recorded cases since the mass displacement.
Severe acute malnutrition rose 25% in January, jumping to 27% in February.
The crisis is fueled by disease outbreaks, including cholera and dengue, along with food shortages.
The situation worsens as another 100,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh in recent months.
Food rations have already been cut, and from April 1, the World Food Program will further reduce aid from $12.50 to just $6 per person.
UNICEF’s Rana Flowers “These families cannot return home safely and have no legal right to work. Humanitarian aid is essential”.
With resources running low, UNICEF urges immediate international support to prevent further hunger and suffering in the camps.
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