US to provide new $30.5M funding to support Rohingya in Bangladesh

The US on Thursday announced a new assistance of $30.5 million for the forcibly displaced Rohingya refugees currently taking shelter in Bangladesh amid a growing call for fresh funding.

Ambassador Jeffrey Prescott, the US representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, announced the new assistance after visiting Rohingya in Cox's Bazar, according to a statement by the US Embassy in the capital Dhaka.

The US is providing funds through the Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration and USAID for Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bhasan Char Island, and the region.

"This funding includes lifesaving support for healthcare, nutrition, clean water, and shelter, as well as support for self-reliance initiatives to help ease reliance on humanitarian assistance," it added.

Prescott is on a visit to Bangladesh to observe the US government's food security, agriculture, and humanitarian assistance activities in the country.

A sharp decline in resources led to a reduction in the value of WFP's food voucher in 2023. In March, the voucher value for refugees was reduced from $12 to $10. A further reduction—down to $8 —was implemented in June, according to WFP.

The UN food program, WFP, however, started gearing up to restore its critical food assistance from January 1-its monthly food voucher from US$8 to US$10 per person.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this Tuesday in a meeting with the visiting International Organization for Migration Director General Amy Pope also called for finding new sources of funding for Rohingya as the funds continued to dwindle.

The majority of Rohingya living in Bangladesh fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine, Myanmar in 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar, but since late 2020 about 35,000 have been relocated to the island of Bhasan Char.

Bhasan Char islet emerged from the Bay of Bengal in 2006 and is about 30 kilometers (21 miles) from the mainland.