UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Bangladesh for a four-day visit, where he will meet with Rohingya refugees who are facing the threat of impending cuts to humanitarian aid.
Around one million members of the persecuted Rohingya minority, mostly Muslim, live in overcrowded and dire conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh, many having fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.
Ongoing reductions in aid have already created significant hardships for the Rohingya population, who depend heavily on assistance and are suffering from widespread malnutrition. Guterres is scheduled to visit one of the largest camps on Friday and break his fast with the refugees during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Bangladesh’s government hopes the visit will bring global attention back to the Rohingya crisis, according to government spokesman Shafiqul Alam. The UN World Food Programme recently warned that severe funding shortages could result in a reduction of monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6.00 per person.
The situation is particularly dire for children in the camps, with UNICEF reporting a 27% increase in admissions for severe malnutrition treatment in February compared to the same month in 2024, marking the highest levels of malnutrition since 2017.
