According to diplomatic sources, the UN has been seeking to send humanitarian aid to Rakhine through Bangladesh amid a fear of famine-like situation there as was reported by the UNDP in November last year.

The email directed Tim Meisburger, the head of USAID's humanitarian affairs bureau, to draft an “Action memo” drawing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's attention to “the odd dependency” of Lebanon and the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on U.S. aid.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is visiting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as their food rations face drastic cuts amid a funding shortfall, threatening already dire living conditions in the world’s largest refugee settlement.