Particle.news
Download on the App Store

AP Investigation Links U.S. Aid Cuts to Surge in Abuses Against Rohingya Children

After USAID’s dissolution, UNICEF closed thousands of camp schools, leaving Rohingya children in Bangladesh more exposed to harm.

An aerial view of a Rohingya refugee camp, home to over a million of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority, is pictured in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Rohingya refugee 13-year-old Rahamot Ullah, his eye bloodied from a bamboo stick that pierced it 10 days earlier while slogging through sewage, speaks to The Associated Press inside the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Brown sandals of 13-year-old Mohammed are propped against the wall, alongside sparkly pink sneakers belonging to his sister, inside their shelter in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Ten-year-old Rohingya refugee Mohammed Arfan, left, sells snacks inside the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Overview

  • The U.S. contribution for the 2025 Rohingya response was cut nearly in half from last year, with the overall appeal only about 50% funded and aid groups warning of a worse year ahead.
  • UNICEF reports a 27% funding loss tied to U.S. cuts and closed 2,800 learning centers in June in the Cox’s Bazar camps.
  • From January to mid-November, reported abductions of children more than quadrupled to 560, and recruitment or use by armed groups rose eightfold to 817, with underreporting likely.
  • Verified child marriage increased 21% and verified child labor 17% through September compared with a year earlier, according to UNICEF staff who say the figures understate the problem.
  • The State Department says the U.S. has provided more than $168 million since President Trump took office and cites greater burden sharing, while U.N. tracking shows $156 million from the U.S. in 2025 and offers no evidence of U.S. influence on other donors.