A recent report by the BBC stated that the World Food Programme has been trying to feed displaced people in the Rakhine state, whose numbers are rising rapidly and which include 140,000 Rohingya Muslims who have been living in camps since communal fighting caused them to flee their homes during communal fighting in 2012.
It was also noted that the 2021 coup had ignited a civil war in Myanmar which has created huge economic needs and destroyed the economy across much of Myanmar.
Situation significantly worse in Rakhine
The BBC also reported that “the situation in Rakhine, which has been cut off from the rest of the country because of a military blockade, is significantly worse than other areas” They report that on 20 April, a 50-year-old father living in the Ohn Taw Kyi camp added insecticide to his food and that of his wife and two children. He died, but the quick intervention of his neighbours saved the lives of the others.
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK report that the starvation is deliberate on the part of the military regime in Myanmar. They note that in June 2025 the Rohingya in Rakhine State are being “deliberately starved to death as they suffer from genocidal policies imposed by the Burmese military, detailed in their report, ‘Starving to death: the latest phase of the Rohingya genocide’.
Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK has commented: “Starvation has replaced bullets as the main tool of genocide against the Rohingya. US cuts in humanitarian aid are assisting the Burmese military in their genocidal policies of using starvation as a weapon against us.”
Consequences of humanitarian aid cuts
Indeed as far back as March this year, Amnesty International were saying clearly that the international community had to urgently step up to save the lives of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh following the announcement of severe aid cuts by the World Food Programme (WFP).
Amnesty stated that they had recently conducted interviews with refugees which demonstrated just how the Rohingya community was bracing for the extreme impact of the deep cuts in WFP funding for about one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from April this year.
The United Nations relief agency UNHCR have reported that 95% of Rohingya households depend on humanitarian assistance. Amnesty says plans by the World Food Programme to halve food rations to a mere $6 a month for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will have a devastating impact on their lives at a time when resources were already stretched to the limit. According to a media report, the WFP stated that the funding shortfall is a result of an overall decline in funding, rather than being expressly linked to the freeze on US foreign aid by President Donald Trump.
Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International commented: “The funding shortfall will only exacerbate the existing desperate shortage of essential supplies and services in the camps. The impact of this will be aggravated for those most at risk of marginalization and discrimination among the refugees – especially children, pregnant women and the older persons.
“The Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazaar have little alternative but to rely on WFP aid. Their access to job opportunities is severely restricted by the government of Bangladesh which has prohibited their movement outside of camps.”
Aid delivery restrictions must be lifted
Zoya Phan from Burma Campaign UK has spoken out on the plight of the Rohingya refugees, who have already suffered so much: “International donors must immediately reverse long term aid cuts to camps hosting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Existing donors must increase funding for both refugees in Bangladesh and internally displaced civilians in Rakhine State. To be able to do so, Bangladesh must lift restrictions on cross-border aid delivery for Rohingya, Rakhine and other civilians who cannot be reached from central Burma. Rakhine State is facing imminent threat of famine and needs urgent attention. World leaders must not ignore it.”
A surplus of power and a deficit of compassion
When the UK government chose to cut international aid from 0.5% of our GDP to 0.3%, it was a cynical move to pick on those who couldn’t fight back, rather than protecting the vulnerable by taking on the wealthy, powerful vested interests in our society and raising their taxes. While Kier Starmer claimed it was making a hard choice, it was of course in reality an easy choice, taking money and hope away from those with no voice.
Meanwhile, under President Trump, USAID has been even more drastically cut than aid from the UK and in July it was reported that it had closed its doors completely.
These cuts are so easy for politicians to make, but they have real and often deadly consequences. In the Rohingya refugee camps, we are seeing the consequences of these cuts as refugees begin to starve.
Like so many other famines, this is not a natural disaster. This is completely man-made, by the leaders of the Burmese army who attacked the Rohingyas in 2017; by members of the civilian government, including sadly Aung San Suu Kyi, who denied the genocide and now by leaders of some of the wealthiest nations in the world, who would rather allow people to die, than take on powerful vested interests in their own countries.
All down the line, the Rohingyas have been let down by people with a huge surplus of power, but a huge deficit of compassion.
There are many crises, in what is a very troubled world, today. But the world must not continue turning its back on the Rohingyas and all the other oppressed and hungry people of Burma. They deserve so much better. You can learn more about the work of Burma campaign UK here.
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