The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stopped providing food assistance to 23 Rohingya people belonging to four families in Cox’s Bazar.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Md Mizanur Rahman confirmed the matter saying that their food aid has been stopped since Monday morning.

“These 23 Rohingyas of four families have agreed over repatriation under a pilot project. Their food has been stopped since Monday morning. But UNHCR did not disclose why the food aid has been stopped," he said.

Read: UNHCR ‘not involved’ in discussions on Bangladesh-Myanmar pilot project on Rohingya repatriation

These Rohingyas are being provided with food assistance in an alternative way, he added.

When contacted, Ikhtiyar Uddin Bayezid, deputy head of UNHCR's Cox's Bazar office, said that the higher officials can say the reason behind the discontinuation  of the food assistance.

Bangladesh and Myanmar recently decided to undertake a pilot repatriation project under which a group of verified Myanmar nationals will return to their country of origin in the first batch.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are currently “not conducive” to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.

Read: OIC members must share responsibility for sustainable solution to Rohingya crisis: Momen

“UNHCR’s position on returns of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar remains unchanged,” said the UN agency sharing its assessment.

The UN agency said it is aware of the visit of a Myanmar delegation to Bangladesh to meet with a group of Rohingya refugees — on a bilateral pilot project between the two countries on possible repatriation.

“UNHCR is not involved in these discussions,” it said in a statement on Bangladesh, Myanmar pilot project on Rohingya returns. The statement was shared by the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific on Sunday (March 19, 2023) night.

Read: FM calls on global community to raise their voices to ensure safe return of Rohingyas