2 days ago
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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Three American aid workers of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were fired while in Myanmar while assisting in rescue and recovery efforts from a major earthquake. This was revealed by a former senior USAID staff member as reported by Arab News on Saturday, as the cessation of foreign aid by the Trump administration affected disaster response in Myanmar.
After traveling to the Southeast Asian country, the three officials were informed over the weekend that they would be terminated, said Marcia Wong, a former official at the United States International Development Agency (USAID), to Reuters.
"This team worked very hard, focused on providing humanitarian aid to those in need. They received news of imminent termination - how could that not weaken their spirits?" said Wong, former deputy administrator of the USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which oversees Washington's emergency response efforts overseas.
Three USAID workers had been sleeping on the streets in the earthquake zone in Myanmar, Wong said, adding that their termination would take effect in a few months. Residents had been sleeping outside for fear of aftershocks and further building collapses. Wong said she had been in touch with remaining USAID staff and that she learned of the terminations after a meeting of all staff on Friday.
The government of President Donald Trump had pledged at least US$9 million to Myanmar after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which had killed more than 3,354 people by Saturday. However, significant cuts from his administration to USAID had hampered its ability to respond. Meanwhile, China, Russia, India, and other countries had rushed to provide aid.
The Trump administration had fired almost all USAID staff in recent weeks. This was due to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk that had cut funding and fired contractors across the federal bureaucracy in what it called an attack on wasteful spending.
Former USAID staff said most of the people who would coordinate the response had been terminated, while third-party implementing partners had lost contracts.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday rejected criticism that Washington was slow to respond to the Myanmar earthquake because the USAID had been destroyed.
Instead, he told reporters in Brussels that Myanmar was not the "easiest place to work,". He said the military government did not favor the United States and prevented it from operating in the country.
The UN said the junta had restricted humanitarian aid. Rubio said the US would no longer be the world's top humanitarian donor, calling on other wealthy countries to step up aid to Myanmar.
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