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Woman with kids walking on mud by Ahmed Akacha from Pexels sourced, 23 November 2021.
The abrupt suspension of U.S.A. foreign aid has crippled Myanmar’s healthcare and support services. Exposing migrants and refugees to vulnerable situations of abuse and forced labour.
The United States of America’s executive order presented on 20 January 2025 explaining the decision to suspend its foreign aid policies places thousands of migrants and refugees alongside the Thai-Myanmar border in danger. The implementation of this executive order manifests in an abrupt US aid freeze in funding for foreign assistance lasting 90 days (The United States Government, 2025). This abrupt decision was implemented to allow for an assessment of the current U.S.A. foreign funding policy and the alignment of foreign development. (The United States Government, 2025) Impacting critical support systems placed within Myanmar for the implementation of humanitarian efforts pertinent to the implementation and protection of proper healthcare, clean water initiatives, and the proper management of waste management. This halting and collapse of international funding have left displaced populations in desperate conditions.
The effects caused by this executive order come in addition to the already standing issues of the Myanmar region. Despite Myanmar being a country in which political and economic instability are present, as how 31.6 percent of Myanmar’s humanitarian response funding, stemming from the U.S.A.’s funding, has been altered, the country has been placed in a cycle of exploitation (Ratcliffe, 2025). The lack of access to healthcare, alongside the limited financial resources accessible to Myanmar nationals, gives way to a situation in which dishonest employees prey on these individuals (Ratcliffe, 2025).
As the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of the key organizations providing healthcare and aid, presented to The Guardian, “People who need basic medical attention are being turned away, and we fear the issue will only get worse” (Ratcliffe, 2025). Beyond the situation’s urgent humanitarian implications, a desperate call for corporate responsibility is raised. This comes into being as the International Labour Organization presents that many of these minorities and refugees affected by the current crisis affecting Myanmar are employed in businesses related to the international supply chain of agriculture, as well as manufacturing (ILO, n.d.-c).
Human Rights advocates and organizations are pleading for urgent intervention as the situation develops. Without swift international assistance, thousands of refugees and displaced minorities will remain at risk, left to their own devices to navigate a situation in which minorities are silenced while their rights are ignored. As there are no effective safety nets in place, many individuals are trapped in a dire situation unless international action is taken from third-party States.
Sources and Further Readings:
The United States Government. (2025, January 20). Reevaluating and realigning United States Foreign Aid. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/
Ratcliffe, R. (2025, February 26). Along Thai-myanmar border, Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid is deadly. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/26/along-thai-myanmar-border-trumps-decision-to-suspend-foreign-aid-is-deadly-ntwnfb
ILO. (n.d.-c). https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@asia/@ro-bangkok/@ilo-yangon/documents/publication/wcms_440076.pdf
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