COX'S BAZAR — The United Nations World Food Program will implement a new tiered assistance system on Wednesday that reduces monthly food support for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar camps from $12 to as low as $7 per person. The change affects 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who are legally barred from working and rely largely on humanitarian aid to survive.

Under the WFP's new system, the amount of food assistance each person receives will vary based on the severity of their family's needs. About 17% of the refugee population will receive as little as $7 per month, while a third of refugees classified as extremely food insecure, including households headed by children, will continue receiving $12 per month.

"It is very difficult to understand how we will survive now with only $7. Our children will suffer the most," said Mohammed Rahim, a refugee in the camps. "I am deeply concerned that people may face severe hunger and some may even die due to lack of food."

WFP spokesperson Kun Li said the change in food distribution was unrelated to funding cuts and should not be described as a ration cut. The agency said a ration cut implies reducing food assistance below 2,100 calories per day, the recommended minimum standard for emergency food aid.

Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said the change amounts to a ration cut for the Rohingya. He said that with desperation running high, the Rohingya will attempt to flee in search of food and work. "Law and order will be deteriorated," he said.

The World Food Program said its funding fell by a third last year due to foreign aid cuts by the United States and other countries. In 2023, the WFP cut rations to $8 per month due to a drop in donations. By November 2023, 90% of camp residents could not afford an adequate diet and 15% of children were suffering from acute malnutrition, the highest rate recorded in the camps. Rations were restored to $12 per month in 2024.

On Tuesday, dozens of Rohingya staged protests against the new system calling for the restoration of full rations. Protesters held signs warning of starvation.

Rahim said he is sick and that his children cannot safely leave the camps to earn money due to the risk of kidnapping, violence, and trafficking. "Ration cuts are pushing people toward life-threatening risks, leaving them with no safe choices," he said.

Most of the Rohingya refugees in the camps fled attacks by Myanmar's military in 2017. Myanmar's military overthrew the country's government in 2021 and remains in control, which has prevented the Rohingya from returning home safely.