UN chief describes aid cuts as ‘a crime’ during visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday described the humanitarian aid cuts by the United States and other countries in Europe as “a crime.”

Guterres was on a four-day visit to Bangladesh where he is assessing the plight of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees whose future remained uncertain over possible aid cuts soon.

The U.N. would do everything possible to arrange adequate funding for the Rohingya refugees after recent announcement of dramatic aid cuts by the U.S. and other countries in Europe, Guterres said. The U.N.'s food agency recently said it would have no option but to cut food aid by half for the Rohingya from April if they fail to arrange adequate funds to feed them.

In a meeting with Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus in the capital, Dhaka, Guterres expressed his concern over Western nations’ decision to boost defense spending while humanitarian aid is squeezed across the world.

”(Aid) cuts are a crime,” the U.N. chief was quoted as telling Yunus by the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha agency during Friday’s meeting.

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Worries surfaced in recent weeks in dozens of camps for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s southern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar and elsewhere over fears of aid cuts following Washington’s decision to close operations. A large proportion of the millions of dollars needed for supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh come from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Bangladesh had said the halt of international aid money would stop other projects in the country but that funding for Rohingya refugees would continue to flow.

A letter from the U.N.'s World Food Program earlier this month said cuts to food rations could take effect from next month at Cox’s Bazar, home to dozens of camps housing Rohingya refugees. The WFP said the food rations could be reduced to $6, from the current $12.50 per month, unless adequate funding is secured.

WFP spokesperson Kun Li said recently if the WFP is unable to secure sufficient funding — $81 million to sustain operations through the end of the year, including $15 million needed for April — it will have to reduce rations starting next month.

An interim government in Bangladesh hopes the visit will boost international efforts to mobilize aid for the Rohingya refugees and attract new global attention to their crisis.

‘A feeling of frustration’

Yunus, who came to power in August after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from office in a mass uprising, used his meeting with Guterres to seek U.N. support for the dignified return of the Rohingya to their homeland in the western Rakhine state in Myanmar. He also asked Guterres to mobilize adequate food and humanitarian assistance for the refugees.

“We are trying to raise attention of the plight of the Rohingya people. The world should know how they are suffering. There is a feeling of frustration,” Yunus was quoted as saying.

Guterres and Yunus left Dhaka to visit camps in Cox’s Bazar district where the leaders met the refugees and learned about their plights.

In a media briefing later Friday, Guterres said he will call on the international community to give urgent support to the refugees.

“We cannot accept that the international community forgets about the Rohingya,” he said. “I will be reaching out to all countries that can support us to ensure that sufficient funds are made available, so people do not suffer even more — or, in some cases, lose their lives,” said Guterres.

Repatriation is ultimate solution

The U.S. has been the top donor to Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees, providing the U.N. with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The U.S. usually provides almost half of the aid money spent on the humanitarian response to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which amounted to about $300 million in 2024.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, including more than 700,000 who arrived in 2017, have lived in Bangladesh for decades. About 70,000 others crossed the border from Myanmar in 2024. During fighting with the military junta, the opposition force known as the Arakan Army effectively took over the Rakhine state where Rohingya were displaced.

Bangladesh says repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar is the ultimate solution. The Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been accused in an international court of genocide against Rohingya. Complexities over verification and other diplomatic and political issues have made the future of the refugees bleak.

Guterres said Friday that uncertainty and sufferings of the Rohingya inside Myanmar should end and the international community must act.

“It is essential for the international community to do everything possible to ensure that peace is restored in Myanmar, that the rights of the Rohingya are respected, and that the discrimination and persecution they have suffered come to an end,” Guterres said.

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Alam reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh.