Refugee camp schools at risk in Bangladesh in aid crisis

DHAKA: Global aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency to sack more than 1,000 teachers in Bangladesh camps for Rohingya refugees, with more jobs at risk without funding.

Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim Rohingya live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of them after fleeing a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.

The teacher firings come in the wake of dramatic US funding cuts.

“Due to the global aid funding crisis, UNICEF has had to make difficult decisions impacting early education services for Rohingya refugee children,” the agency said in a statement late Tuesday.

UNICEF said that the contracts of 1,179 people – working on kindergarten and primary schools – were terminated.

Before the cuts, there were an estimated 4,000 teachers in the camps, according to Bangladeshi senior government aid official, Md Shamsud Douza.

Schools have closed for the Muslim holiday of Eid, but if fresh funding is not secured by the time term resumes at the end of June, more teachers could lose their jobs.

“The return of the rest of the workers…depends on new funding being secured,” UNICEF added.

“We remain committed and hopeful that increased support will restore what every child deserves: a future.”

UN halts plan to halve refugee rations for Rohingya in Bangladesh

Humanitarian organisations worldwide have been reeling since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January, freezing most foreign aid funding.

The United States has traditionally been by far the top donor to a number of agencies, which have been left scrambling to fill sudden budget gaps.

“We are deeply aware of the urgent needs faced by Rohingya refugee children, many of whom have already endured significant trauma and disruptions to their education, health, nutrition and protection,” UNICEF added.

“Our goal is to ensure they have essential skills, that they have basic qualifications that give them confidence to contribute to their communities when the time is safe for them to return.”