The Impact Of Funding Cuts To The Rohingya Refugees: Impending Crisis For Bangladesh – OpEd

The reduction of humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh poses an imminent danger to the safety and welfare of over 1.2 million stateless individuals, as well as to regional stability, the socioeconomic structure of Bangladesh, and the feasibility of secure and sustainable repatriation.

Decreased financial support from NGOs, INGOs, and U.N. agencies, notably the World Food Programme (WFP), results in refugees confronting escalating challenges related to hunger, deteriorating health, and diminished access to education and protection. This short examines the trajectory of the Rohingya problem from 2017 to 2025, the circumstances that precipitated and will ensue from a decline in aid, and the necessary actions for Bangladesh and the international community to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

The head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mr. Filippo Grandi had addressed these issues regarding the Rohingya while visiting the Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar this year, calling for sustained support and solution. In the past, we have observed that Myanmar authorities may be culpable not only of “ethnic cleansing” but perhaps of genocide. Human rights organizations and Muslim groups in Europe and the United States assert that regulations in Buddhist-majority Myanmar impede the primarily Muslim Rohingya from marrying, accessing education, and, for some, traveling and practicing their faith. By late 2017, Cox’s Bazar was accommodating nearly 700,000 displaced Rohingya, exerting significant strain on the camps and surrounding towns. What began as an emergency intervention evolved into a protracted crisis. The Rohingya remain confined in the world’s largest refugee camp, lacking access to formal employment, freedom of movement, and any viable long-term chances for integration. The host communities are experiencing economic and environmental hardship, leading to social tensions when the ratio of host to refugee populations.

Global humanitarian demands have surged during the past two decades, depleting donor resources. The Rohingya’s request for over $1 billion annually is contending with crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other regions and these community desperately needs help to keep up. The U.S. administration also suspended foreign aid and redefined “lifesaving” assistance, leading to abrupt cuts exceeding $15 million to critical programs that sustain medical supply chains, fund child protection advocates, and aim to prevent gender-based violence. Inflation and the constriction of expenditures by comprehensive contributors, including the UK and Germany, have diminished commitments for the 2025 Joint Response Plan, which is presently only 16 percent financed of its $934.5 million target.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been the essential support for the food security of the Rohingya population. All refugees had previously been allocated food coupons amounting to $12.50 a month until early 2025. By April 2025, significant deficits compelled the WFP to reduce rations to $6 every six-week cycle, prompting the organization to request $81 million to maintain full rations until the end of the year. The reduction was averted at the final moment with a donor infusion of US$6 mere weeks prior to execution. Bangladesh currently faces a US$173 million deficit to supply essential rations to over 1.2 million Rohingya until November 2025, after which food assistance will cease without prompt intervention.

Halving these assistances would necessitate that refugees forgo meals, liquidate assets, or incur debt, thereby exacerbating hunger rates over the emergency level. During a prior one-third ration reduction, malnutrition doubled in the camps, and child mortality has surged dramatically. The extent of human misery is immeasurable. Funding reductions have halted non-emergency medical services at five clinics and disability support, affecting over 300,000 migrants requiring prenatal care, chronic illness management, and mental health interventions.

Now, continuous declines in donations are jeopardizing educational initiatives and skills development programs. For instance, refugee adolescents are deprived of psychosocial counselling, fire safety training, and first aid courses like the programs essential for cultivating community leaders. Being deprived of the legal right to work, Rohingya continue to rely on a dwindling stream of humanitarian assistance. The intense rivalry for limited resources, including water, firewood, and healthcare, exacerbates tensions with local people who are already experiencing elevated poverty levels. The government’s capacity to fund services for both refugees and host communities is strained, posing a risk of social upheaval. Candidates for these positions must be capable of executing the following tasks. Such dire circumstances engender criminality and exploitation. Several reports link insufficient food and income to heightened theft, extortion, and recruitment into human trafficking networks.

The current interim administration of Bangladesh, led by Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, is grappling with its own financial difficulties and the economic strain of addressing the void created by reductions in aid. Camps offer no viable options for integration, and the state’s long-term financial commitments may hinder national development aspirations.

Reductions in services may undermine refugees the capacity to maintain securely in camps of Cox’s Bazar. A deteriorating humanitarian response may exacerbate cross-border tensions, as refugees seek safety in less affluent nations or embark on perilous sea journeys to Malaysia and Indonesia. The escalating violence within the camps poses a risk of extending into adjacent Bangladeshi villages, straining local law enforcement and jeopardizing diplomatic relations. The ongoing enhancement of camp amenities and the move to Bhasan Char aim to alleviate the strain on mainland communities, notwithstanding concerns regarding the safety and permission of the displaced individuals as the relocation process started back in 2021.

Professor Yunus’s interim government has recently advocated for a strategy termed the “Triple Nexus,” which integrates humanitarian efforts, development, and peace to empower refugees and host communities towards self-reliance. We can extract insights from revisiting the commitments, for instance: Conventional donors must reinvest in WFP, UNHCR, and, to a lesser degree, NGOs, to prevent ration reductions and service interruptions; innovative financing mechanisms, including blended finance, private-sector collaborations, and regional development funds, can support livelihood programs, facilitating a shift from direct aid. We must prioritize accountability systems that enhance transparency regarding INGO overhead expenses and direct funding channels to local NGOs, while emphasizing higher value for money, to optimize scarce resources and foster local capacity development.

In March 2025, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, accompanied by Professor Muhammad Yunus, visited Cox’s Bazar as global attention centred on the necessity of sustaining humanitarian assistance. The co-hosting by both entities underscored the urgent appeal for global unity and signified a promising resurgence of diplomatic vigour and contributions among OIC, ASEAN, and Gulf state benefactors. The current trajectory is characterized by diminishing support and persistent displacement threatens to create a cycle of dependency and despondency. In the absence of assertive, coordinated actions, the crisis is likely to exacerbate nutritional and health crises, resulting in increased mortality among vulnerable communities. The current government should also focus on enhancing camp-based development programs, including skills training and microfinance, to promote self-sufficiency.

It also includes the facilitation of diplomatic contact between the junta in Myanmar and regional allies prior to securing repatriations. The Rohingya crisis exemplifies the issues surrounding contemporary forced migration, characterized by intense suffering intertwined with geopolitics and global resource competitiveness. The resolution necessitates tenacity, creative financing, and a commitment to humanitarian principles. Without prompt and resolute measures, the advancements of the past eight years risk being reversed, jeopardizing Bangladesh’s resilience.

Jaidul Karim Iram
Jaidul Karim Iram has completed his graduation and post-graduation from the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka. He has worked as a junior executive in an NGO, participated in several MUN competitions in national levels.