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Rohingya refugees face hunger and loss of hope after latest ration cuts
After scanning the rows of lentils, garlic, potato, onions, eggs and rice on offer, she begins sobbing at her meagre selection – a small bottle of cooking oil and a bag of red chilies – the only items she can afford with the remaining credit on her prepaid food voucher of just $8 a month.
“I do not know what I will do – how will I survive on this, along with the little rice I have left for the rest of the month? My neighbours used to help when I ran out of food, but now they are also unable to cope,” she said, her hands shaking as she stuffed her items into a big burlap sack, which looks just as empty as when she arrived.
Nearly one million Rohingya remain stranded in extremely overcrowded, and sometimes dangerous conditions in these camps in southern Bangladesh, the majority after fleeing violence in Myanmar nearly six years ago.
ALSO READ THIS: JAPAN TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT RESOLVING ROHINGYA ISSUES: ENVOY
The food assistance they receive from the World Food Programme, WFP, has been the only reliable source they can count on to meet their basic food and nutrition needs. But since the start of the year, this lifeline has been under severe pressure due to reduced donor funding.
Food rations down to 27 cents a day
Faced with funding shortfalls, WFP have had to make difficult choices in order to sustain food assistance until the end of the year. In March, the value of the food vouchers for camp residents was reduced from $12 per person per month to $10, and in June, to just $8 – or 27 cents a day.
The cuts came just weeks after thousands of refugees lost their homes to Cyclone Mocha, which followed a major fire earlier this year.
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