Donald Trump’s sweeping foreign aid cuts have emboldened Myanmar’s military rulers to intensify human rights abuses with impunity, rights organisations working in the country have alleged.
The funding cuts are projected to strip the conflict-ravaged nation of over $1bn in development assistance by 2029, according to the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, or HART, and Fortify Rights.
This threatens to deepen a humanitarian crisis caused by a series of ethnic armed conflicts and worsened by the army’s overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in a 2021 coup.
Since ousting the democratically elected government, the junta led by General Min Aung Hlaing has waged civil war against a host of regional rebel groups across the country. The Independent released a documentary last December about the rise and fall of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who has remained under house arrest since the coup.
In a report published on Wednesday, HART and Fortify Rights underscored the catastrophic impact of the Trump administration’s order to freeze funding for USAID programmes on the first day of his second term in the White House.
Mr Trump slashed USAID funding by about 83 per cent, halting some $60bn in foreign aid. This triggered the termination of over 5,800 grants, severely disrupting humanitarian and development efforts globally.
“Some of our worst fears are now being realised,” Sam Mason, CEO of HART, said. “We warned that such a rushed and ill-conceived policy would weaken local mechanisms for oversight and justice, leaving civilians even more exposed to threats and persecution.”
“Now, in some of the country’s most volatile regions,” Mr Manson added, “the military has carte blanche to violate human rights.”
The report, focusing on Shan State, a key battleground in the civil war bordering Thailand, claimed that armed groups were recruiting children as young as 10 to carry weapons or supplies.
It highlighted that “prolific” sexual violence by armed groups was used as a weapon of war against Shan minorities and it had become even harder for survivors to seek support or medical treatment due to aid cuts.
Benedict Rogers, senior director at Fortify Rights, said he recently returned from a month-long visit to the region where he witnessed the dire consequences first-hand.
“Refugees’ rations have been stopped, leaving them in a precarious struggle for survival. Food, schooling for children, and basic medical care have almost ceased,” he said.
“Unless the international community steps up and works with Thai authorities to find sustainable solutions, these cuts could result in destitution, disease, and death. At a time when Myanmar’s military is committing egregious atrocity crimes, now is not the moment to cut lifelines of support.”
Mr Rogers said the ripple effects of the funding cuts were “far-reaching, putting thousands of lives in grave danger and severely impeding the ability for pro-democracy and human rights groups to make their voices heard”.
The funding squeeze was also a gift to the junta and its international allies as it undermined efforts to seek accountability for mass atrocities.
“The cuts undermine years of international efforts to support a democratic future for Myanmar and strike a devastating blow to the country’s courageous but embattled democracy movement,” he said.
Lord Alton of Liverpool, chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, condemned the funding cuts.
“The more we remove deterrents to violence, the more we embolden the perpetrators,” he said. “We give them a green light to carry on their killings with impunity. It strengthens tyranny and intensifies suffering.”
The military coup in February 2021 plunged Myanmar into a civil war and deep humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 3.5 million people internally displaced.
The fierce fighting between the junta’s forces and armed ethnic groups in many areas of the country has led to civilians facing frequent attacks, arbitrary arrests and sexual violence.
The closure of USAID has also disrupted critical humanitarian services along the border with Thailand where over 100,000 refugees rely on programmes funded by the US for food and medical care.
A investigation led by the UN and reported on Wednesday said the Myanmar junta detained children as young as two, subjected them to torture, sexual abuse and beatings, and often used them as proxies for their parents.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, covering the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, found evidence of “war crimes and crimes against humanity committed” taking place with increasing frequency since the coup.
