Bangladesh Appeals For Renewed Global Action As Rohingya Funding Collapses by Salma
The Minister of Home Affairs of Bangladesh, Salahuddin Ahmed, has made urgent appeals to international donors in order to resume aid for more than 1.18 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, stating that there has been a drastic decline in global aid which is jeopardizing the welfare of one of the largest groups of refugees in the world. In conversations held with UNHCR Country Representative Ivo Freijsen on May 5th and Australian High Commissioner Susan Ryle on May 6th, Ahmed emphasized that there has been a 50 percent decrease in the budget allocated by the United States to help Rohingya refugees. “Bangladesh cannot bear the responsibility of housing such a large number of people without global assistance,” stated the minister. These appeals precede the May 20th, 2026 launch of the next Joint Response Plan for Rohingya refugees.
In his meeting with Freijsen, Ahmed warned that the Rohingya crisis must not be overshadowed by other global emergencies, urging the United Nations to keep the issue “high on the agenda of international forums.” He also stressed that “safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya” remains the only durable solution. The funding picture has continued to worsen: in April, the World Food Programme cut food aid for hundreds of thousands of refugees, and in the same month, an overcrowded boat carrying Rohingya seeking to reach Malaysia sank en route after departing Cox’s Bazar, with at least 250 people suspected dead. According to UNICEF, more than half of the refugee population are children, and over 235,000 refugee children are estimated to be out of school, exposing them to child labor, trafficking, and gender-based violence. Health services, education programs, and cooking fuel distribution have already begun to scale back due to funding shortfalls.
The crisis of the Rohingya highlights how an ongoing displacement situation can easily become a secondary concern in international politics without ever receiving enough attention despite growing humanitarian needs. In this case, the emphasis on repatriation as the main political solution to the problem will eventually lead to an ideal displacing reality, as the prerequisites for ensuring safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation are currently lacking in Myanmar. Meanwhile, donor fatigue that puts the lives of over one million individuals, including half a million children, in jeopardy signals a systemic failure to prepare for situations involving displaced populations for an indefinite amount of time.
The Rohingyas constitute a Muslim minority in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar. Ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas by Myanmar authorities in August of 2017 led to the evacuation of about 750,000 people who moved to Bangladesh and joined the existing refugee camps, making these camps the world’s largest. Efforts to repatriate the refugees in 2018 and 2019 failed, as the refugees refused to go back to their country without assurances of their safety and citizenship. Beginning in early 2024, more than 100,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh due to the ongoing conflict between Myanmar’s army and the Arakan Army, which by the end of 2025 controlled almost all major towns in Rakhine State. Significant political changes have also taken place in Bangladesh; the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the country’s first free and fair elections in almost two decades in February 2026. Salahuddin Ahmed, a member of parliament in the Cox’s Bazar-1 constituency, the area where the camps are located, is now the home minister.
The upcoming Joint Response Plan presentation scheduled for May 20th provides an immediate window of opportunity to show renewed international resolve, with Ahmed suggesting Bangladesh’s willingness to work together with donors and U.N. partners. Meanwhile, Bangladesh is also attempting to expand its outreach to neighboring countries: on May 8th, discussions were held between the minister and the Interior Minister of Pakistan concerning the role that nearby nations might play in facilitating cooperation with Myanmar. However, the test of any such efforts will not take place at round-table discussions, but within the refugee camps themselves; whether children can continue to attend school, rations can be sustained, and future attempts to return home will be based on assurances of safety as opposed to mere political expedience. The key question facing the over 1.18 million Rohingya currently in Cox’s Bazar concerns whether their status will be considered an emergency situation or simply an unavoidable reality.
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