A/80/490 people. Many health workers have stopped receiving their salaries, though some continue to work in exchange for in-kind benefits, such as food items. VII. The situation of refugees from Myanmar 81. According to UNHCR there are over 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar present in Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Indonesia. This figure does not include millions of others from Myanmar who reside abroad under other legal frameworks—such as those available to migrant workers—or who have had no contact with UNHCR, many of whom meet the definition of refugees under international law. 82. As the Special Rapporteur has highlighted in previous reports, many refugees from Myanmar face human rights violations and serious threats to their health, safety and wellbeing in their host countries.4 Some governments have prevented UNHCR from contacting new arrivals, limited access to education and livelihood opportunities, obstructed resettlement to third countries, and arrested, detained and extorted refugees and migrants from Myanmar. Some of Myanmar’s neighbors have violated the principle of non-refoulment by pushing back refugees at their borders and deporting people to Myanmar despite the risk they will face violence and oppression. Regional governments have failed to mount an effective response to the perilous boat journeys taken by Rohingya refugees and others, leading to hundreds of preventable deaths at sea. 83. Meanwhile, the international community, including countries with significant capacity, have failed to do their part in addressing the global refugee crisis or the situation of refugees from Myanmar. Inadequate funding and paltry refugee resettlement quotas put refugees from Myanmar and the countries that host them in precarious circumstances. 84. The situation for refugees from Myanmar, already dire, took a dramatic turn for the worse in 2025 when the United States government announced severe funding cuts that devastated programs supporting refugees from Myanmar. In 2024, the United States provided 55 percent of the funding for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan, the primary vehicle for support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. As of early-October 2025, the Joint Response Plan was only 38 percent funded. 85. The dire funding situation has already led to the suspension of key services for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, with the threat of more severe cuts looming on the horizon. In order to maximize the impact of waning support, UN agencies have slashed administrative budgets and made dramatic staff cuts. Rohingya “volunteers,” who received stipends from humanitarian agencies, have been let go, cutting off a vital source of income for many refugee families. UNICEF education programs have been severely curtailed because of a lack of funding, leaving children idle and threatening their development and future prospects. Medical services, mental health care, programs on gender-based violence, camp maintenance activities, and services for persons with disabilities have also experienced cuts. 86. In September, the President of the UN General Assembly convened a High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar. The conference drew attention to the crisis in Rakhine State and the lack of adequate support for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. During the conference Member States highlighted their contributions to humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and several made new funding commitments, including a $60 million commitment from the United States. 87. These new contributions appear to have extended the funding pipeline for food assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which was previously forecasted to end in December 2025. Still, without fresh funding commitments, rations for Rohingya could be terminated in 2026, a potential doomsday scenario for refugees. Given the Bangladesh government’s restrictions on refugee movement and livelihoods, Rohingya in Bangladesh are almost completely dependent on rations for survival. 88. The Bangladesh government has consistently emphasized its chief objective of facilitating Rohingya refugees’ return to their homeland in Rakhine State, a goal shared by 4 12 See, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/52/66, 9 March 2023.