UN experts on Thursday warned about catastrophic consequences for Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh if life-saving food aid is slashed and issued an urgent plea for donations to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Rohingya Refugee Response.

"The planned rations reductions are the devastating consequence of the international community's failure to provide funding for initiatives that address the fundamental needs of Rohingya refugees. Rations will be slashed for Rohingya refugees starting in a few weeks, just before Ramadan. This is unconscionable," the experts said.

The WFP indicated that it would reduce rations for Rohingya refugees by 17 percent in March and said if no new funding commitments were made by April – a new round of deeper cuts would have to be made. It is appealing for $125 million in funding to avoid ration cuts.

"If these cuts are made, they will be imposed on vulnerable people who are already food insecure. Acute malnutrition levels remain high, and chronic malnutrition is pervasive among the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh, with more than a third of children stunted and underweight," the UN experts said.

"The repercussions of these cuts will be immediate and long-lasting, as refugees remain almost entirely dependent on this assistance for their nutritional needs," they said.

"The most vulnerable, including children under five, adolescent girls, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, will be particularly exposed."

"The Rohingya, survivors of genocidal attacks by the Myanmar military, are now further victimised by the failure of the international community to ensure their basic right to food," the UN experts said.

Reductions in vital food assistance can make refugees more desperate, which could fuel further violence and unrest in the camps. This could also lead to myriad human rights concerns, such as a heightened risk of human trafficking, particularly of children and girls, and more refugees embarking on perilous boat journeys.

"While many states have called for justice and accountability for the Rohingya, those in the camps need more than words and statements of solidarity. Rohingya refugees need immediate action from the international community to ensure that these cuts – and their generation-spanning consequences – are avoided. The stakes could not be higher," Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, and Thomas Andrews (US), special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said.

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