Myanmar’s people are already feeling the “crushing impact” of the “sudden, chaotic withdrawal” of U.S. and other humanitarian aid, an independent human rights expert said Monday, urging the international community to take more decisive action.
Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights monitor for Myanmar, announced plans to appeal to the 47 member countries of the U.N. Human Rights Council to issue a “declaration of conscience” in response to the escalating humanitarian crisis.
He emphasized that such a declaration must be followed by concrete actions.
“We need funding for vital, life-sustaining programs that are being slashed and jeopardized,” Andrews told reporters, stressing the urgency of the situation. “If the Human Rights Council doesn’t act, then who will?”
Andrews, a former U.S. congressman from Maine, acknowledged that the full extent of the crisis is not yet clear.
However, the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar stated on Oct. 25 that the U.S. had already provided $141 million in humanitarian aid since Oct. 1, 2023.
Andrews said the cut in aid was "unnecessary and cruel” and ill-timed: A strong movement of national resistance and a weakening of Myanmar's military rulers have raised hopes among its people.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition.
After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
The violence continues: An airstrike Friday reportedly killed and injured dozens in a village held by resistance forces.
Tuberculosis and HIV patients have been missing their medication for weeks, disabled children have been locked out of rehabilitation centers, and rights groups have faced cuts in their ability to distribute food and water to people, he said.
"The sudden, chaotic withdrawal of support – support principally from the government of the United States – is already having a crushing impact on the people of Myanmar," Andrews said.
The Trump administration and many of its supporters have argued that the United States, the world’s largest humanitarian aid provider, has shouldered too much of the burden for too long.
Andrews alluded to efforts by a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk through the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce waste and spending in the U.S. government, including at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has distributed billions of dollars in foreign aid over the years.
"You have this incredible rhetoric that is based upon nothing except creating headlines," Andrews said, to show how "this entire program is going to be thrown into a wood chipper ... Well, it’s innocent people who are being tossed into that wood chipper."
"We need to take a stand about this,” he added.
