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Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Foreign aid cuts hurt the most vulnerable in world's largest refugee camp
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh – The sound of children at play echoes through the verdant lanes of one of the dozens of refugee camps on the outskirts of Cox's Bazar, a densely populated coastal town in southeast Bangladesh. Just for a moment, the sounds manage to soften the harsh living conditions faced by the more than one million people who live here in the world's largest refugee camp. Described as the most persecuted people on the planet, the Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh may now be one of the most forgotten populations in the world, eight years after being ethnically cleansed from their homes in neighbouring Myanmar by a predominantely Buddhist military regime. 'Cox's Bazar is ground zero for the impact of budget cuts on people in desperate need,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to the sprawling camps in May. The UN chief's visit followed United States President Donald Trump's gutting of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has stalled several key projects in the camps, and the United Kingdom announcing cuts to foreign aid in order to increase defence spending. Healthcare in the camps has suffered as the severe blows to foreign aid bite. 'They call me 'langhra' (lame)' Seated outside his makeshift bamboo hut, Jahid Alam told Al Jazeera how, before being forced to become a refugee, he had worked as a farmer and also fished for a living in the Napura region of his native Myanmar. It was back then, in 2016, that he first noticed his leg swell up for no apparent reason. 'I was farming and suddenly felt this intense urge to itch my left leg,' Alam said. 'My leg soon turned red and began swelling up. I rushed home and tried to put some ice on it. But it didn't help.' A local doctor prescribed an ointment, but the itch continued, and so did the swelling. He soon found it difficult to stand or walk and could no longer work, becoming dependent on his family members. A year later, when Myanmar's military began burning Rohingya homes in his village and torturing the women, he decided to send his family to Bangladesh. Alam stayed behind to look after the cows on his land. But the military soon threatened him into leaving too and joining his family in neighbouring Bangladesh. The 53-year-old has been treated by Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, in the Kutupalong region of Cox's Bazar since arriving, but amputation of his leg seems likely. While some doctors have said he has Elephantiasis – an infection that causes enlargement and swelling of limbs – a final diagnosis is yet to be made. Along with the disease, Alam has to also deal with stigma due to his disability. 'They call me 'langhra'(lame) when they see I can't walk properly,' he said. But, he adds: 'If God has given me this disease and disability, he also gave me the opportunity to come to this camp and try to recover. In the near future I know I can start a new and better life.' 'The word 'Amma' gives me hope' Seated in a dimly lit room in a small hut about a 10-minute walk from Alam's shelter, Jahena Begum hopes aid organisations will continue supporting the camps and particularly people with disabilities. Her daughter Sumaiya Akter, 23, and sons, Harez, 19, and Ayas, 21, are blind and have a cognitive disability that prevents them from speaking clearly. They are largely unaware of their surroundings. 'Their vision slowly began fading as they became teenagers,' Begum says. 'It was very difficult to watch, and healthcare facilities in Myanmar could not help,' said the 50-year-old mother as she patted her daughter's leg. The young girl giggled, unaware of what was going on around her. Begum's family arrived in Cox's Bazar about nine months ago after the military in Myanmar burned their house down. 'We made it to the camps with the help of relatives. But life has been very hard for me,' said Begum, telling how she had single-handedly brought up her children since her husband's death eight years ago. Doctors from MSF have given her children spectacles and have begun running scans to understand the root cause of their disability. 'Right now, they express everything by making sounds. But the one word they speak, which is 'Amma', meaning mother, shows me that they at least recognise me,' Begum said. 'The word 'Amma' gives me hope and strength to continue trying to treat them. I want a better future for my children.' 'The pain isn't just physical – it's emotional' Clad in a blue and pink striped collared shirt and a striped brown longyi – the cloth woven around the waist and worn by men and women in Myanmar – Anowar Shah told of fleeing Myanmar to save his life, on top of losing a limb to a mine blast. Shah said he was collecting firewood in his hometown Labada Prian Chey in Myanmar when his leg was blown off by the landmine last year. Myanmar is among the world's deadliest countries for landmine and unexploded ordnance casualties, according to a 2024 UN report, with more than 1,000 victims recorded in 2023 alone – a number that surpassed all other nations. 'Those were the longest, most painful days of my life,' said the 25-year-old Shah, who now needs crutches to get around. 'Losing my leg shattered everything. I went from being someone who provided and protected, to someone who depends on others just to get through the day. I can't move freely, can't work, can't even perform simple tasks alone,' he said. 'I feel like I've become a burden to the people I love. The pain isn't just physical – it's emotional, it's deep. I keep asking myself, 'Why did this happen to me?'' More than 30 refugees in the camps in Bangladesh have lost limbs in landmine explosions, leaving them disabled and dependent on others. All parties to the armed conflict in Myanmar have used landmines in some capacity, said John Quinley, director of rights organisation Fortify Rights, in Myanmar. 'We know the Myanmar junta has used landmines over many years to bolster their bases. They also lay them in civilian areas around villages and towns that they have occupied and fled,' he told Al Jazeera. Abdul Hashim, 25, who resides in Camp 21 in Cox's Bazar, described how stepping on a landmine in February 2024 'drastically altered his life'. 'I have become dependent on others for even the simplest daily tasks. Once an active contributor to my family, I now feel like a burden,' he said. Since arriving in the camp, Hashim has been in a rehabilitation programme at the Turkish Field Hospital where he receives medication and physical rehabilitation that involves balance exercises, stump care, and hygiene education. He has also been assessed for a prosthetic limb which currently costs about 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka ($412). The cost for such limbs is borne by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 'Despite the trauma and hardship, I hold onto some hope. I dream of receiving a prosthetic leg soon, which would allow me to regain some independence and find work to support my family,' Hashim said. So far, a total of 14 prosthetic limbs have been distributed and fitted for camp inhabitants by the aid group Humanity & Inclusion, who have expertise in producing the limbs in orthotic workshops outside the refugee camps. Both Hashim and Shah are a part of the organisation's rehabilitation programme, which has been providing gait training to help them adapt to the future, regular use of prosthetic limbs. Tough decisions for aid workers Seeking to ensure refugees in the camps are well supported and can live better lives after fleeing persecution, aid workers are currently having to make tough decisions due to foreign aid cuts. 'We are having to decide between feeding people and providing education and healthcare due to aid cuts,' a Bangladeshi healthcare worker who requested anonymity, for fear his comment could jeopardise future aid from the US, told Al Jazeera. Quinley of Fortify Rights pointed out that while there are huge funding gaps because of the aid cuts, the Rohingya refugee response should not fall on any one government and should be a collective regional responsibility. 'There needs to be a regional response, particularly for countries in Southeast Asia, to give funding,' he said. 'Countries connected to the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) in the Middle East could also give a lot more meaningful support,' he said. He also recommended working with local humanitarian partners, 'whether it's Bangladeshi nationals or whether it's Rohingya refugee groups themselves' since they know how to help their communities the best. 'Their ability to access people that need support is at the forefront, and they should be supported from governments worldwide,' he said. For the estimated one million refugees in Cox's Bazar, urgent support is needed at this time, when funds grow ever scarce. According to a Joint Response Plan drawn up for the Rohingya, in 2024, just 30 percent of funding was received of a total $852.4m that was needed by the refugees. As of May 2025, against an overall appeal for $934.5m for the refugees, just 15 percent received funding. Cutting the aid budgets for the camps is a 'short-sighted policy', said Blandine Bouniol, deputy director of advocacy at Humanity & Inclusion humanitarian group. It will, Bouniol said, 'have a devastating impact on people'.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Community schools offer hope for Rohingya refugee children as US aid cuts hit education
DHAKA: As US aid cuts have forced the UN's children agency UNICEF to suspend thousands of learning centers for Rohingya refugee children sheltering in camps in Bangladesh, a small number of community-led schools have now become their only source of education. The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority, have fled from Myanmar's Rakhine State to neighboring Bangladesh for decades to escape persecution, with more than 700,000 arriving in 2017 following a military crackdown that the UN said was a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar. Today, more than 1.3 million Rohingya on Bangladesh's southeast coast are cramped inside 33 camps in Cox's Bazar — the world's largest refugee settlement. The refugees, who are almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid, recently faced another blow, after the US suspended aid funding worldwide in January. Washington has been the largest donor, having contributed $300 million in 2024, or 55 percent of all foreign aid for the Rohingya. Those and other foreign aid cuts 'have worsened the already existing education crisis for 437,000 school-age children in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh,' Human Rights Watch said in a report published this week. It is only in schools established by the Rohingya community that some children are able to get their education now, the group said, after UNICEF-run learning centers were forced to shut due to a lack of funding. These schools offer a small glimmer of hope for many young children in the refugee camps. 'School is important for me because it gives me knowledge, enhances my life skills, makes me think for my community, makes me a better person and makes me hopeful for a better future. As a refugee, I don't have many opportunities, but education can open doors for me and help me build a better life,' Mohammed Shofik, a 15-year-old Rohingya boy enrolled at a community school in Cox's Bazar, told Arab News on Friday. His dream is to become a scientist or doctor. At school, he is learning how to experiment and use tools, as well as how to listen and observe carefully, which he thinks are helpful to achieve his goals. 'Education is the only way to reach my dream and help my community,' he said. But only a small number of Rohingya children are able to enroll in the community-led schools, as they do not receive any charitable support, Arif Salam, a teacher in one such school in the camps, told Arab News. 'Community schools are not funded by any donors and NGOs. Our only funding source is the tuition fees received from the parents of our students. But we can't provide services to all the children,' he said. 'Only a few students in the camps can afford the learning in the community schools. Most of the students are enrolled with the UNICEF-run learning centers. The children who are enrolled with UNICEF learning centers are now sitting idle as they have nothing to do. It will create an irreparable loss for their education.' There are about 150 community schools across the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar. Each of the schools have about 10 to 15 teachers, who provide education for 150 to 400 students. Without government support or private donor funding, the schools charge parents monthly tuition fees ranging from around $0.50 for class one up to $6.50 for class 12, a fee that many cannot afford, as the Rohingya are not allowed to work. 'The closure of learning centers brought huge educational losses,' Salam said. 'For our Rohingya children, it's a hopeless situation.' While the Bangladeshi government has not encouraged any informal system of education, such initiatives should be considered to address the education crisis, said Asif Munir, a renowned Bangladeshi expert on migration and refugees. 'Some kind of education is required for them because otherwise there is a possibility that the younger children, as they grow up, not just uneducated, they might be getting involved in informal work or even sort of risky work as well,' Munir warned. 'With education they can still hope for some kind of proper work where they can use their education in their life. So, in that sense, at least, the government can consider this as a good sort of coping strategy.' HRW had also urged the Bangladeshi government to 'recognize and fund community-led schools to increase their capacity,' and highlighted that recognition could help encourage donor support. For the young Rohingya whose lives have been plagued with increasing uncertainties, going to school helps them chart a path for the future. 'My dream is to become a motivational speaker. In school, our teachers teach us good listening, delivering strong messages, storytelling, using body language, confidence-building techniques and leadership skills,' 10th-grader Rohul Amin told Arab News. 'I think with all these knowledge and skills, I can achieve my dream one day.' For Amin, school also helps him learn about his identity as a Rohingya. 'I especially focus on the history subject because history makes me understand our identity. As a Rohingya, I have no identity. I mostly try to remember our land and our identity.'
The Standard
12-06-2025
- General
- The Standard
Wars now displace over 122 million people as aid funding falls, UN says
Rohingya refugees gather at roadside kitchen market, at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 15, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
Arab News
07-06-2025
- General
- Arab News
For Rohingya mothers, Eid marks rare chance to serve meat for family
DHAKA: As she prepared for Eid Al-Adha celebrations on Saturday, Nikash Tara could not recall the last time she served a proper meal for her family. In the cramped camps of Cox's Bazar, a nutritious meal was a near-impossible treat available only during special occasions and solely dependent on charitable contributions. Most days, Rohingya refugee mothers like Tara could only rely on food rations, which have been slashed in recent years due to insufficient funding. 'It was probably during Eid Al-Fitr when we last had a truly nutritious meal … We survive on the food rations, which are not enough now. Sometimes, I skip meals so that my children can eat,' Tara told Arab News. 'We get rice, lentils, and oil, but no vegetables, no milk. It's hard to call it a 'meal,' let alone nutritious.' Eid Al-Adha, known as the 'Feast of Sacrifice' and one of the two most important holidays for Muslims, is the first time this year that the mother of three gets to serve meat for her family. Eid Al-Adha commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim's test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. To reflect his readiness to do so, Muslims around the world slaughter an animal, usually a goat, sheep or cow, and distribute the meat among relatives and the poor. 'On the occasion of Eid, we received a small portion of meat … I prepared a curry with potato and the meat I received. Although it's not much in quantity, it made the children happy, as it is a chance to have a meal with beef for the first time this year,' Tara said. 'It hurts me as a mother. My heart breaks when my children get excited over a single good meal. It reminds me how little they get on normal days. Eid should be joyful, but I cry inside, knowing my children are being deprived every other day of the year. I feel helpless.' Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox's Bazar, said this year the camps received 1,800 cattle and 350 goats for Eid sacrifice, donated by various Muslim and local nongovernmental organizations. 'In addition to that, different organizations and philanthropists promised to deliver 50,000 kg of fresh meat to be distributed on the day of Eid Al-Adha,' Rahman told Arab News. The donations will help Bangladeshi authorities to 'reach many of the Rohingya families … (and) offer them a feast on the occasion of Eid,' he added. Bangladesh hosts about 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims, who, for decades, have fled neighboring Myanmar to escape persecution, especially during a military crackdown in 2017 that the UN has been referring to as a 'textbook case' of ethnic cleansing. The majority of them now live in Cox's Bazar in eastern Bangladesh, which has become the world's largest refugee settlement. Over the years, humanitarian conditions in the squalid camps have been deteriorating, with aid continuously declining since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rohingya also have limited access to job opportunities and education. With nobody able to earn a living, Mariam Khatun's family was among those entirely dependent on food aid. 'With little food aid and in a life with no earning opportunity, for my children, a decent meal is something unimaginable,' Khatun told Arab News. Though Eid was a joyful occasion, she said it was 'painful that joy comes only once or twice a year. 'It breaks my heart when the children look at the meat and ask: 'Will we eat this again tomorrow?' I have no answer.' Before fleeing her village in Myanmar, the 29-year-old mother of two used to prepare spicy beef curry, her children's favorite, frying the meat until it was crispy. 'But here, I barely have them. We rely fully on the food rations, but the amount has been cut so much. It's not enough for a full month,' she said. 'Maybe only on this Eid, we got a little meat. That's the only time this year my children got something with some nutrition. We're not living; we're just trying not to starve.'
Al Bawaba
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Al Bawaba
Rains ruin more than 1,400 Rohingya homes in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh Heavy monsoon rains in Cox's Bazar on Bangladesh's southeastern coast have damaged over 1,400 Rohingya homes. In just two days, 53 landslides were reported across 33 refugee camps. One refugee was killed as a wall collapsed, while lightning strikes reportedly injured 11, the UNHCR said late Monday. The heavy monsoon rains 'highlight once again the critical needs of Rohingya refugees,' it added. More than 1.3 million Rohingya are seeking refuge in Cox's Bazar district. The majority arrived following a crackdown by Myanmar's military in 2017. 'Steep slopes, floods and makeshift shelters make a dangerous mix in such a densely populated place, while strong winds risk further weakening shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin,' said Juliet Murekeyisoni, the interim UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh. Thousands of newly arrived Rohingya fleeing targeted violence and persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine State have further shrunk the already overcrowded space, said UNHCR. A critical funding shortfall also threatens the ability of humanitarian actors to meet urgent needs and fully implement the required preparatory actions, it added. 'Preparing for these disasters is not just essential – it is lifesaving,' said Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator, from the Cox's Bazar camps. Monsoon preparedness usually starts before May, but partners could not take this measure because of the shortfall. This year, the UN's Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya refugee situation sought $934.5 million to assist Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, but only 20% of the requested funds were received.
