WFP Cuts Food Aid for 1.2 Million Rohingya in Bangladesh — Two-Thirds Will Receive Less

What Changed on April 1

Before today, each of the 1.2 million Rohingya in Bangladesh's refugee camps received a flat $12 per month in food assistance from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) — an amount refugees and aid workers had already described as barely sustainable. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026; NPR, April 1, 2026)

Under WFP's new tiered system, effective April 1, the amount each person receives varies based on the severity of their family's assessed needs:

• Approximately one-third of the population — those classified as "extremely food insecure," including households headed by children — will continue receiving $12 per month.
• Approximately 17% of the population — those classified as least vulnerable — will receive as little as $7 per month.
• The remainder fall into intermediate tiers. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

The net effect: roughly two-thirds of the camp population will receive less than the previous baseline of $12 per month. (Source: NPR, April 1, 2026, citing WFP spokesperson Kun Li's acknowledgment)

WFP's Position vs. Bangladesh's Government

WFP spokesperson Kun Li told AP that the change should not be described as a "ration cut." Li said a ration cut implies food assistance being reduced below 2,100 calories per day — the recommended minimum standard for emergency food aid — and that even recipients of the reduced $7 monthly amount will still meet that caloric threshold.

The agency said in a statement: "The plan ensures that even with differentiated ration sizes, all Rohingya continue meeting their minimum food needs, strengthening fairness, transparency, and equity in food assistance." (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Li also said the tiered change was unrelated to foreign aid funding cuts — a claim contested by context. WFP has repeatedly warned that rations in the camps could be slashed as a result of steep foreign aid cuts by the United States and other countries in 2025, which caused the agency to lose a third of its funding globally. Programs supporting the Rohingya were only around half funded in 2025 and are only 19 percent funded in 2026. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, disagreed sharply with the WFP's characterization. Rahman told AP that the change amounts to a ration cut in practice, and predicted it would destabilize the camps: "Law and order will be deteriorated," he said. He told AP that Rohingya will attempt to flee the camps in search of food and work. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Voices from the Camps

Camp resident Mohammed Rahim, who said he and his wife were already struggling to feed their three children on the previous $12 monthly allotment, told AP his assistance has been reduced to $7 per month. "It is very difficult to understand how we will survive now with only $7. Our children will suffer the most," Rahim said. "I am deeply concerned that people may face severe hunger and some may even die due to lack of food." (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Rahim said he is sick and that his children cannot safely leave the camps to earn money due to rising risks of kidnapping, violence, and trafficking in the camp areas. He said several people he knows are considering returning to Myanmar despite severe risks, and others are considering dangerous sea crossings to Malaysia — journeys that result in hundreds of Rohingya dying or disappearing each year. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Dozens of Rohingya staged protests against the new tiered system on Tuesday, the day before implementation. Camp residents held signs warning of starvation and declaring "Food is a right, not a choice." (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Historical Context: How the Crisis Reached This Point

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar's Rakhine State who have faced decades of state persecution. The current refugee crisis in Bangladesh stems primarily from a military crackdown that began in August 2017, when Myanmar security forces razed several hundred Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine State. At least 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in that wave alone, according to Amnesty International (August 2025). The United States government has formally declared the 2017 campaign a genocide.

The same military that conducted those attacks overthrew Myanmar's civilian government in a coup in 2021 and remains in control of the country as of 2026. The coup has made voluntary repatriation effectively impossible — Rohingya returning to Myanmar face the same forces responsible for the 2017 attacks. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh is now home to more than 1 million Rohingya, making it the world's largest refugee camp complex, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR, January 2026). The Rohingya are legally barred from working in Bangladesh, leaving them almost entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

This is not the first time WFP has been forced to reduce assistance at Cox's Bazar. In 2023, the agency cut rations to $8 per month due to a funding shortfall. By November 2023, WFP reported that 90% of camp residents could not afford an adequate diet and that 15% of children were suffering from acute malnutrition — the highest rate ever recorded in the camps. Rations were restored to $12 per month in 2024. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

The Funding Gap Behind the Cut

While WFP officially says the April 1 tiered change is not a result of funding cuts, the broader funding context is stark. In 2025, the United States and other donor countries made steep cuts to foreign aid. WFP lost approximately a third of its global funding. Programs supporting the Rohingya in Bangladesh were only around 50% funded in 2025 and are currently only 19% funded in 2026. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026)

The foreign aid cuts had already had tangible consequences. According to AP, last year's cuts led to school closures in the camps, which contributed to a documented surge in kidnapping, child marriage, and child labor. (Source: AP, April 1, 2026, citing prior AP reporting)

Separately, WFP Director General Cindy McCain resigned in early 2026; her departure and the circumstances surrounding it were reported by AP but are not directly addressed in this article. (Source: AP reference in article, details not confirmed for this piece)

Why It Matters

The situation at Cox's Bazar combines several converging crises: a stateless population legally unable to work; a host country with limited capacity and will to absorb them permanently; a home country controlled by the very forces that committed the original atrocities; and a global humanitarian funding system increasingly strained by competing emergencies including the Iran war, Sudan, and Ukraine.

Bangladesh's own warning — that reduced rations will push people to flee — carries serious regional implications. Rohingya making dangerous sea crossings to Malaysia and other destinations have been a recurring crisis across Southeast Asia for years. Rahman's prediction that "law and order will be deteriorated" in the camps reflects not just a bureaucratic concern but a documented pattern: the 2023 ration cuts were followed by a measurable spike in violence and trafficking in the camps.

As of publication, no major donor country has announced emergency supplemental funding to prevent the tiered cuts from taking effect.