London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

UK accused of ‘abandoning’ Rohingya with ‘catastrophic’ 40% aid cut

UK accused of ‘abandoning’ Rohingya with ‘catastrophic’ 40% aid cut

Children in overcrowded Cox’s Bazar settlement likely to suffer most from reduced humanitarian spending, say campaigners

The government has been accused of abandoning Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh after cutting aid to the humanitarian response by more than 40%.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) pledged £27.6m to the humanitarian sector’s joint response plan launched this week, compared with £47.5m last year.

“This decision will have catastrophic consequences for some of the world’s most desperate and vulnerable people. The UK is stepping back when they need us to step up,” said Kirsty McNeill, Save The Children’s executive director of policy, advocacy and campaigns.

McNeill said the cuts were not surprising after the government already reduced aid to Yemen and Syria, but were “shortsighted”.

“[Rohingya refugees] now live in dangerous and cramped refugee camps struggling to contain Covid-19. There have been more than 80 fires so far this year in what is the world’s largest refugee settlement [around Cox’s Bazar], with a population density six times that of New York City,” said McNeill.

On Thursday, Bangladeshi authorities imposed a lockdown in five refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar following a rise in Covid-19 cases. According to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, 320 cases have been recorded in April and May, more than a third of the total since the pandemic began.

Anupom Barua, the principal of Cox’s Bazar Medical College, told AFP the number of infections in the camps is “alarming”.

There are at least 885,000 Rohingya living in Bangladesh, most of them since 2017, when the Myanmar military launched an operation against the minority group, which the UN described as genocidal.

“This is not the moment for the UK to abandon international leadership,” said Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, in a statement.

“When foreign secretary Dominic Raab is cutting aid, the main target of these aid cuts will be Rohingya children. The future is disappearing for the children in the camps. With the growing population hardly receiving any education, in 10 years we will have a lost generation.”

During the launch of the response plan, the UK’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, recognised that no long-term solution to the Rohingya had been found and that the military coup in Myanmar had complicated the situation.

Burma Campaign UK accused the government of not matching its condemnation of the coup with support for the Rohingya.

Dominic Raab talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk on Burma. He likes to offer statements, whether it is on justice or support to protesters, but doesn’t follow it up with action. This includes aid. In their most dire moment of need, Dominic Raab has decided to abandon the poorest people of Burma,” said Karin Valtersson, its campaigns officer.

In 2017, the British government pledged £129m to the Rohingya response after the mass displacement. But spending has reduced each year.

Tents donated by China in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, 24 March 2021. The UK has reduced its spending on Rohingya response each year since 2017.


The joint response plan has suffered overall from dwindling donations. On Tuesday, it was announced donors had pledged just 35% of the $943m needed for 2021 to support the Rohingya and almost 500,000 people living near the camps with a range of basic services including food, water and healthcare, as well as protection for women and girls.

The UK government is cutting its aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income this year, but it has said it aims to raise spending when the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have eased.

The FCDO said: “The UK is spending more than £10bn this year to fight poverty, tackle climate change, respond to humanitarian crises and improve global health. Since 2017, the UK has contributed over £321m to the Rohingya response and we remain a leading donor to the Rohingya crisis response in Bangladesh.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×