Severe acute malnutrition in the Rohingya refugee camps has surged by 27 percent in February this year compared to the same period last year, pushing more children into life-threatening hunger, Unicef said in a statement yesterday.

More than a million Rohingyas, including 5,00,000 children, live in the Cox's Bazar camps, where families now face emergency levels of malnutrition.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is preparing to cut monthly food rations from US $12.5 to US $6 per person starting April 1, following fund cuts from USAID under the Trump administration's new policy.

On March 6, WFP made an urgent appeal for $15 million for April and $81 million to sustain aid for the Rohingya refugees until the end of the year.

Unicef said over 15 percent of children in the camps are now malnourished -- the highest level recorded since the 2017 mass displacement of Rohingya refugees.

Last year, Unicef treated nearly 12,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a condition that leaves them dangerously thin, weak, and highly vulnerable to disease.

Of those treated, 92 percent recovered. However, without urgent intervention, this condition can be fatal, said Unicef.

"In 2025, cases of severe acute malnutrition increased by 25 percent in January compared to the same month last year (rising from 819 to 1,021 cases). February saw an even steeper increase of 27 percent (from 836 to 1,062 cases), indicating a dangerous upward trend," it added.

Unicef attributed this surge to multiple factors, including prolonged monsoon rains in 2024, which worsened sanitation and led to severe diarrhoea, cholera, and dengue outbreaks. Additionally, intermittent food ration cuts over the past two years and a growing influx of families fleeing violence have worsened conditions.

"For now, we can provide the services that Rohingya mothers seek and the sick children need, but as needs rise and funding declines, families are terrified of what will happen if food rations are cut further and nutrition treatment services stop," said Rana Flowers, Unicef representative in Bangladesh.

At the beginning of 2025, Unicef estimated that 14,200 children in the camps would suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year.

Declining food rations, poor diets, and limited access to safe water and healthcare could push this number even higher. Children with severe malnutrition are 11 times more likely to die than their well-nourished peers without timely treatment, the statement also said.

"These families cannot safely return home, and they have no legal right to work, so sustained humanitarian support is not optional -- it is essential," Flowers said.

"Unicef is committed to delivering for these children, but without guaranteed funding, critical services will be at risk," she warned.