Myanmar faces ‘untold’ suffering due to US aid ‘betrayal’: UN expert

The UN's special rapporteur on Myanmar on Monday lambasted the US foreign aid cuts as a shameful act of betrayal that would cause untold suffering and death in the war-ravaged country.Tom Andrews, a former US congressman, tore into the swingeing cuts, saying they were politically-motivated, based on distortions, and being carried out in the worst possible manner.He urged the 47 countries on the UN Human Rights Council to take a joint stand and speak up as a matter of conscience."The sudden, chaotic withdrawal of support, principally by the government of the United States, is already having a crushing impact on the people of Myanmar," Andrews told a press conference."Questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of aid programmes can and should be addressed, as should concerns about burden-sharing."But this is not about either. It is about making politically-motivated and demonstrably false declarations about corruption, waste and abuse that will cause immense suffering and cost untold numbers of lives."It is about betrayal. This is shameful.'Cruel'Myanmar's ruling junta seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021 that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil and a humanitarian crisis.Myanmar has been rocked by fighting between numerous ethnic rebel groups and the army. The civil war has displaced more than 3.5 million people, according to the UN.Andrews said more than 6,300 civilians had been killed; 19.9 million people, a third of the entire population, now required humanitarian assistance; while more than half of the population has fallen into poverty.He said people in Myanmar were receiving aid that "is literally keeping them alive, and the abrupt termination of this support is going to kill them."This is just a catastrophe that is unfolding. It's unnecessary and it's cruel."Andrews took aim at not just the depth of the cuts, but the way in which it was being done, with no opportunity for creating contingency plans, or chances for other countries to phase in support."It is unconscionable, it is outrageous and we need to take a stand," he said."This is the worst possible way to go about this."It is politics in its worst form, and it's sacrificing human lives to make a bad political point, based upon fabrications and distortions.Opium, scams and landmines Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, speaks at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in March 2023 (Elma Okic / UN Photo) Andrews said Myanmar had become a hotbed of criminality, having become "the largest supplier of opium in the world", with scam centres and sex trafficking flourishing.Going after those financing the junta was like playing whack-a-mole, and "the way you can be sure that you're not facilitating weapons transfers is if you stop doing business with Myanma Economic Bank", he added."More people are now killed or maimed by landmines in Myanmar each year than in any other country," he said.Andrews said banks had increased their due diligence, terminating their relationships with junta-controlled institutions."These actions are making a difference: junta military procurement using the international financial system has dropped by more than a third," he said.UN special rapporteurs are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, but are independent experts who do not speak for the United Nations itself.Andrews will present his latest report to the council on Wednesday.

Myanmar faces ‘untold’ suffering due to US aid ‘betrayal’: UN expert

The abrupt termination of US aid to Myanmar is ‘unnecessary and cruel,’ says UN expert, warning of catastrophic fallout

Subscribe for full access

Beyond Beijing’s reach, a new resistance alliance takes shape in Myanmar

Between resistance and the ballot box: Assessing the second phase of Myanmar’s junta-controlled elections

‘Our souls are in Myanmar’: Voices from a refugee camp

Under fire and deep in debt: The reality facing Myanmar’s farmers

Few Russians travelling to Myanmar, despite visa exemption

Myanmar military-linked politician urges ICJ legal team to ‘unzip their pants’ in crude TikTok video

Mass jailbreak in Karenni State sends POWs fleeing into Thailand

Over 300 journalists, including 30 in Myanmar, behind bars near end of 2025: watchdog

Death toll rises in airstrike on Kyauktaw detention site

KIA set to fully resume rare earth mining in captured ‘special region’

Myanmar junta airstrikes kill three civilians sheltering in Rakhine State monastery

Myanmar’s factories cling to life as power shortages persist

Bought Out or Seized: Mandalay farmers face impossible choices amid land grab

Myanmar junta partners with Chinese firm to build natural gas terminal despite Rakhine State conflict

Thai officials call on Myanmar regime to crack down on fraud, trafficking gangs on Thai-Karen State border

Myanmar military continues to lose ground to anti-junta forces in northern Shan State

Despite escalating violence, Myanmar junta leader says elections will proceed

NUG-founded bank set to sell shares to meet ‘emergency needs’

Myanmar’s junta bears ‘sole responsibility’ for Suu Kyi’s health—NLD

Karenni youth fight for freedom at the cost of their lives and limbs

The mothers of the Magway resistance

A Myanmar artist finds freedom behind bars—by portraying prisoners’ oppression

As Myanmar’s revolution beckons, a new breed of activist photographers heeds the call

The man behind the Myanmar junta’s campaign of terror in Sagaing

Authorities tighten restrictions on passport process for Myanmar nationals in Thailand

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles