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On World Refugee Day 2025, the NGO Platform Cox’s Bazar stands in solidarity with the Rohingya community and their Bangladeshi hosts, urging the international community, ASEAN, and regional actors to renew and increase their commitment to one of the world’s largest and most urgent humanitarian crises.
More than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees now reside in Bangladesh, with at least 118,966 new arrivals since 2024 and thousands more awaiting registration and support.1 These families have fled severe hardship, insecurity, and protection risks, seeking safety and dignity. However, as displacement continues, humanitarian needs are rising while resources are rapidly diminishing, threatening the ability to deliver essential, life-saving assistance.
The 2025 Joint Response Plan requires $934.5 million to aid 1.5 million Rohingya and host community members, but is currently only 21.7% funded.2 Recent global aid cuts— including a freeze on major U.S. funding and reductions from other donors—have forced the suspension of medical services, closure of clinics, and scaling back of critical programs in protection, skills development, and shelter, especially affecting children, women, and people with disabilities.
The education of approximately 230,000 Rohingya refugee children is at risk due to the deepening funding crisis. Without immediate support, foundational learning opportunities for children in the world’s largest refugee settlement could be lost.3 Food rations are also at risk of drastic reductions, forcing families to make impossible choices between meals, healthcare, and safety. This desperation is driving more Rohingya to undertake perilous sea journeys; in 2023 alone, at least 569 Rohingya died or went missing at sea, marking one of the deadliest years in nearly a decade.4 Furthermore, about 200 cases of human trafficking of refugees within Bangladesh were recorded from late 2024 to early 2025.
Malnutrition is a growing and urgent concern. According to the latest available data, the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate among Rohingya children under five in Cox’s Bazar has risen to 15.1% in 2024, surpassing the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15%. Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) rates are also alarming, with 3.4% of children affected, putting thousands at immediate risk of life-threatening conditions. These rates represent a significant increase from previous years, highlighting the deteriorating situation as funding and food assistance decline5.
Personal testimonies underscore the crisis. Mothers like Majuna Khatun6 worry about the closure of medical facilities that their children depend on. Refugees report fewer medical professionals and the loss of Rohingya volunteers, resulting in reduced access to essential treatments. These stories echo across every shelter, food line, and service center in the camps.
Despite the severity of the crisis, global attention is waning, and the Rohingya response risks becoming invisible, overshadowed by newer emergencies. Host communities are also under strain as resources dwindle, and opportunities diminish. Without adequate funding, the humanitarian response may face further service reductions, increasing the risk of a poorly managed, protracted crisis and escalating tensions with host populations.
On this World Refugee Day, we call for immediate, flexible, and sustained funding to restore and expand essential services. We urge donors and partners to prioritize the inclusion of new arrivals in all humanitarian programming and invest in long-term solutions that empower both refugees and host communities. Asia-Pacific regional solidarity is vital to ensure a coordinated response that upholds the rights, dignity, and protection of the Rohingya people.
Let us not allow this crisis to become a forgotten tragedy. Stand with the Rohingya. Stand with Bangladesh. Stand for dignity, hope, and humanity.