MAE SOT, THAILAND – Refugee camps along the Thai–Myanmar border and in Myanmar reported acute shortages and rising child deaths after sweeping US development aid cuts under President Donald Trump.
Refugee families in Mae La camp report extreme deprivation
In the Mae La camp in western Thailand, residents described a collapse in basic supplies, with no rice, no medicines and almost no jobs left. A reporter from Korea said two elderly women, Massa and Naw Cindy, both around 70, told her that fear for their children’s future had left them unable to sleep.
According to the report, the women’s adult children lost their jobs with a local NGO as funding dried up, while Thai government work permits helped only a small number of residents. Mae La, home to about 40,000 people living in small huts behind barbed wire, had depended on US sources for roughly 80 percent of its development aid.
Decades-old border camps facing “announced” humanitarian disaster
Mae La lay in a mountainous area near the Myanmar border and had housed refugees for four decades. In total, nine similar camps along the frontier accommodated about 100,000 people, most of them having fled crisis-stricken Myanmar.
The text stated that many residents now faced death “not from war, but from Trump’s policy” as US payments had been falling for months. The rollback was presented as a “humanitarian catastrophe with advance warning.”
Trump dismantles USAID and labels aid “superfluous”
The article asserted that under the “America First” agenda, President Donald Trump dismantled the US development agency USAID, viewing aid for the world’s poorest as “superfluous.” It described the consequences as devastating for camp populations that had relied on US support.
The report linked the cuts to wider global impacts, stating that decisions in Washington translated directly into shortages of food and medicines in remote settlements like Mae La. Residents were portrayed as bearing the cost of a shift in US priorities.
Rohingya child’s death in Myanmar blamed on US cuts
Conditions in Myanmar, which had been gripped by civil conflict since the 2021 military coup, were described as similarly dire. In a camp in Rakhine State, where the heavily discriminated Rohingya minority lived, the death of a boy drew national attention.
His father, Mohammed Taher, told the Associated Press:
“I lost him because of the US cuts. And many more children have died.”
said Mohammed Taher, father of the deceased boy.
Oxfam warns of millions of preventable deaths
The international aid organisation Oxfam was cited with alarming projections that US cuts could lead to three million preventable deaths worldwide. The figures also included 23 million children excluded from education and 95 million people losing access to health care.
According to the article, these numbers illustrated the scale at which the withdrawal of US funding threatened basic services. The decision by the Trump administration was described as costing human lives “on a massive scale.”
Harvard professor cites hundreds of thousands of deaths
Atul Gawande, a prominent medical professor at Harvard University, was quoted as sounding the alarm over the impact of the policy. He said Trump’s decision had already
“led to hundreds of thousands of deaths from infectious diseases and malnutrition.”
said Atul Gawande, Harvard medical professor.
The article argued that for the Trump administration, dismantling development aid could go down in history as a moral low point, occurring while the president mounted “war-like attacks” elsewhere and undermined democratic structures.
US Secretary of State Rubio denies any deaths
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was reported as insisting that no lives had been lost because of the cuts. He stated:
“No one has died” and “Under my watch no children are dying.”
said Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State.
The article called these claims incompatible with reports from the camps and suggested it was unclear whether they reflected deliberate deception or ignorance. It argued that deaths in refugee settlements contradicted his statements.
Germany debates its own reductions in development aid
The report said that not only the United States had reduced support. In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz was described as seeking to abolish the federal development ministry and having already pushed through significant cuts.
According to the text, his coalition partner SPD opposed these moves, while the right-wing opposition AfD supported Merz’s position. Germany had previously been portrayed as an important donor whose changing stance could further strain global assistance.
Vietnamese victims lose Agent Orange compensation
The article recalled that the United States had fought a brutal war in Vietnam into the 1970s, using the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange. Until recently, the US had been paying compensation to affected victims.
It stated that these payments had now been halted, leaving people suffering from long-term health effects without support. The text framed this as another instance in which the weakest were paying the price for Trump’s policy choices.
Exile media and African health programmes under pressure
Exile media serving refugees from Russia and Iran were said to face closure as US funding disappeared, threatening their ability to continue independent reporting. The article suggested that without this backing, free media work for these communities would become impossible.
In African countries, the cuts were linked to growing gaps in financing for food and treatments against infectious diseases. The report noted that the list of those affected could be extended much further and that no solutions were in sight.
Border NGO faces $1.3 million monthly shortfall
Maximilian Morch of the NGO The Border Consortium, which worked in camps in western Thailand, described an escalating funding crisis. He said:
“We are working intensively to secure additional financial resources.”
said Maximilian Morch, representative of The Border Consortium.
He added that the funds obtained so far were far from sufficient and that about 1.3 million US dollars per month were needed to supply more than 100,000 refugees with food and fuel. The situation was portrayed as an almost impossible task for remaining donors.
US offers reduced funds with climate condition
At the end of December, the US government appeared to partially reverse course, according to the report. US representative Jeremy Lewin told the United Nations that Washington was prepared to provide 2 billion dollars.
However, the article said the offer came with a stark condition, summarised as “adapt or die.” The money—described as less than one-eighth of previous payments—was not to be used for combating climate change, which was labelled as “against US interests.”
Climate change denial and responsibility of major emitters
The article stated that President Trump denied human-made climate change, despite scientific evidence that it existed and had lethal consequences. It argued that the United States, along with other Western nations, was among the largest contributors to global warming.
Instead of assuming responsibility, the text claimed, Trump turned off the financial tap for the world’s poorest. This stance was characterised as deeply cynical in light of the climate-related risks faced by vulnerable populations.
Global outrage over moral implications of aid cuts
The report concluded that the Trump administration’s approach to development aid could be remembered as a moral nadir. It linked the policy to accusations of racism and attacks on democratic structures while “innocent children” were said to be dying.
In a final reflection, the article questioned where humanity remained when billions were spent on weapons while funds for rice and medicines were lacking. It described this as a disgrace for the world’s richest nation.