3/25/25, 4:53 PM
As ration cuts loom, Rohingya families in the world’s largest refugee settlement say they’ll be forced to send children away on dangerous journeys…
Bangladesh(/country/bgd) + 1 more
As ration cuts loom, Rohingya families in the world’s largest
refugee settlement say they’ll be forced to send children away
on dangerous journeys
News and Press Release
Source: Save the Children(/organization/save-children)
Posted: 13 Mar 2025
Originally published: 13 Mar 2025
Cox’s Bazar, BANGLADESH, 13 March 2025 – Amir*, 39, a father of three, fears that if food rations are cut in
the Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh next month, families will have no choice but to make
desperate decisions, including to send their children away on dangerous boat journeys to survive and support
their families.
With just a few weeks to go until the food ration cuts take effect, desperation inside the camps is growing,
several families told Save the Children.
"Mental pressure will increase for those who do not have any income source, which will lead to physical
illness. Human trafficking in the camp may increase, as many families, driven by poverty, will hand over their
daughters to traffickers."
“Now, impoverished families will send their teenage sons outside the camp for work. The incidents of journeys
to Malaysia by sea for job searching will increase."
Due to severe funding shortfalls and without urgent new funding, monthly food rations for Rohingya refugees
living in Cox’s Bazar will be halved starting next month, from $12.50 to $6.00 per person a month – just as
refugees prepare to celebrate Eid, marking the end of Ramadan, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has
said.[1]
About one million people live in the camps in Cox’s Bazar including more than 500,000 children, with over 15%
of those aged under 5s malnourished – an emergency threshold - UNICEF warned earlier this month.[2]
Last year, more than 7,800 Rohingya refugees embarked on perilous boat journeys, an increase of 80% on
2023. [3] Children made up just under half of the predominantly Rohingya refugees leaving Bangladesh and
Myanmar by boat in 2024
with numbers continuing to rise.
https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/ration-cuts-loom-rohingya-families-worlds-largest-refugee-settlement-say-theyll-be-forced-send-children-away-dangerous-jour…
1/5