Aid cuts could affect US itself

“Armageddon” is the word veteran human rights campaigner Phil Robertson uses to describe the sudden shutdown of most of the US’ aid programmes around the world.

- DAVE KENDALL'S

In January, US President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid, and weeks later, decided to terminate 90% of contracts providing such aid worldwide, including in Thailand.

“Perhaps most prominent is the work that was being done on the Thai-Myanmar border, particularly with the refugee camps,” said Mr Robertson on the podcast Deeper Dive. “As soon as the cuts were made, groups like the International Rescue Committee had to shut down their hospitals that were servicing refugees. There were a number of cases of elderly refugees who all of a sudden couldn't get the medical care they required and died.”

“And on the other side of Myanmar, in Bangladesh, in the refugee camps that are housing the Rohingya who fled ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity inflicted on them in 2017 by the junta — those aid programmes largely stopped that were provided by the US.

“The aid freeze directly affected the US response to the March 28 earthquake in Myanmar, with several USAID staffers receiving termination notices just after arriving. But the foreign aid programmes axed go far beyond disaster relief and medical treatment.