“Children in the world’s largest refugee camp are going through the worst levels of malnutrition since the massive displacement that occurred in 2017,” Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, told journalists in Geneva, almost eight years since hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya have fled generalized military attacks in Myanmar.
Speaking of Dhaka, Flowers said that last month in the Cox’s Bazaar fields, severe acute malnutrition admissions rose more than 27 % compared to February 2024, with over 38 children under five admitted to emergency care every day.
Avoidable deaths
“Unless additional resources are guaranteed, only half of needy children will have access to treatment this year, and this will leave about 7,000 children at risk, with the expectation of an increase in morbidity and mortality,” said Flowers. “This is babies dying.”
Bangladesh receives more than one million Rohingya expelled from his homes in neighboring Myanmar over several years after the brutal military repression in 2017. About 500,000 Rohingya refugee children live in the fields of the Cox Bazaar.
UNICEF’s representative highlighted several “compound crises” that are boosting the increase in malnutrition. Among them was last year’s extraordinarily long monsoon season, which exacerbated unhealthy conditions in the fields, bringing severe diarrhea in children and outbreaks of cholera and dengue. Violence over the border in Myanmar triggered more displacements while food feed decreased.
Now the global aid financing crisis has refugee families on the edge of the “extreme despair.”
“Food rations have reached a critical point,” Flowers said. “According to the world food program, without immediate funding, feed could be reduced soon to less than half of $ 6 per month, an amount that goes dramatically short of basic nutritional needs.”
She emphasized that pregnant mothers who breastfeed, along with their babies, would be among the most vulnerable.
Myanmar is not yet safe
UNICEF’s representative has insisted that these families “cannot yet come back safely home” to Myanmar. Just 10 days ago in a UN briefing Human Rights CouncilHigh Human Rights Commissioner, Volker Türk, said the country is jammed in one of the worst human rights crises in the world. He denounced the “Mianmar Military Campaign to terrorize the population through acts of extreme brutality.”
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh also have no legal right to work, Flowers said, which makes them dependent on help.
“Sustained humanitarian support is not optional. It’s essential, ”she insisted.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres It is ready to travel to Bangladesh later this week and meet with Rohingya refugees at the Cox Bazaar as part of his annual solidarity visit to Ramadan.
Financing freezing
Asked about the impact of great cuts on US help financing, Flowers said that after the announcement of a US foreign assistance freezing earlier this year, UNICEF received a humanitarian resignation for its nutrition program.
“This can allow us to use ready -to -use therapeutic foods to treat and cure very sick children with severe acute malnutrition. But we need renunciation and real financing to maintain this work, ”said Flowers.
She emphasized that financing for agency detection and treatment services for child malnutrition will be shown in June 2025.
The US State Department announced on Monday that about 80 % of US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs would be ending.
Flowers added that “other US donations to Bangladesh have been closed,” representing about a quarter of Rohingya refugee response costs.
Without financing, “Services for these children will be significantly reduced, endangering their survival, security and future,” she said.
Parts of the humanitarian response include safe water and sanitation services, which will “deteriorate, increasing the risk of mortal outbreaks with flow effects for public health public safety,” Flowers warned. Access to health will decrease, “clinics will close and immunizations will be interrupted,” she said.
“Education will be cut, leaving hundreds of thousands without learning opportunities. And this is hopeless, ”she concluded.
