US aid cuts force Rohingya girls into marriage, children into hard labour

In Bangladesh, crucial child protection programs have been severely hampered by President Donald Trump’s drastic cuts to foreign aid, along with those made by other donor countries.

The effects are severe: girls forced into marriage, girls forced into hard labor as young as 10 years old, and some girls forced into prostitution as young as 12 years old.

The Rohingya have received more than $ 182 million in aid since Trump took office, citing improved efficiency and shared donor responsibility, but the reality is still terrible on the ground.

In the most unlikely instances of solitude, Hasina, 17, weeps for the school that once provided her with a place to escape from an otherwise merciless world in between beatings from her husband.

Since Myanmar’s military killed her father in 2017, school had provided her with protection from camp predators and the threat of forced marriage. Then, when Hasina was 16 years old, her teacher announced that the school’s funding had been reduced. The institution was closing. Her education and her early life both vanish in a flash.

Hasina and hundreds of other underage girls quickly married off after their educational opportunities were cut short and their families were concerned about the worsening circumstances caused by aid reductions. Many women have experienced domestic abuse from their husbands, including Hasina.

Hasina softly admits, “I dreamed of being something, of serving the community.” To protect her from her husband’s retaliation, The Associated Press news agency has changed her full name. My life has been destroyed.

Hasina fumbles her pink phone case, which reads “Forever Young,” in a sweltering building close to her cramped shelter. Although she is still in her early years of adulthood, she was forced by the aid cuts. Soon after getting married, her husband began physically and sexually abusing her. She had a constant desire to study English and pursue a career as a teacher. She is currently largely confined to her shelter, performing domestic chores, and dreading the upcoming assault.

If she could, she would try to flee, but she would be unable to. With the military still in charge of her homeland after the 2017 genocide, it is impossible to go back to Myanmar. Even though she no longer sees a future, her husband now has control over her future.

She claims, “I wouldn’t be trapped in this life if the school hadn’t closed.”

The 600,000 children living in these overcrowded camps are now in greater danger of harm. According to UNICEF, child crimes have increased significantly this year, with cases of kidnapping and abduction more than quadrupling to 560 in comparison to last year. 817 children were among the 817 reported reports of armed groups recruiting children.