https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-usaid-thailand-trump-rubio-aid-7f6919a1863ceea2ddf6708e47bb88f0
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
Updated 3:24 PM MST, October 8, 2025
(Kristen Gelineau has covered Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya people since 2017. Her reporting has exposed atrocities committed by Myanmar’s ruling military, including systematic rape of Rohingya women and girls and widespread use of torture against civilian prisoners.)
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family’s food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher’s little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: “No one has died” because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: “No children are dying on my watch.”
That, Taher says, “is a lie.”
“I lost my son because of the funding cuts,” he says. “And it is not only me — many more children in other camps have also died helplessly from hunger, malnutrition and no medical treatment.”
Taher’s grief is echoed in families across conflict-ravaged Myanmar, where the United Nations estimates 40% of the population needs humanitarian assistance and which once counted the U.S. as its largest humanitarian donor. Now, in Asia, it has become the epicenter of the suffering unleashed upon the world’s most vulnerable by President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
And like Taher’s son, Mohammed Hashim, it is Myanmar’s children who have borne the brunt of the fallout. A study published in The Lancet journal in June said the U.S. funding cuts could result in more than 14 million deaths, including more than 4.5 million children under age 5, by 2030.
Taher is one of 145,000 people forced to live inside squalid, prison-like camps in the state of Rakhine by the ruling military. Most, like Taher, are members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, which was attacked by the military in 2017 in what the U.S. declared a genocide.
After their food rations evaporated, Taher’s family meals shrank from three a day to one. Taher, his wife and his five children grew so weak, there were days they could not walk.
Little Hashim faded. The clever, caring toddler, who loved playing football and whose cheerful chirps of “Mama” and “Baba” once filled their shelter, could barely move. Anguished by his son’s sobs, Taher tried to find help. But with soldiers banning residents from leaving the camp to find food, and with no money for a doctor, there was nothing Taher could do.
On May 7, Taher and his wife watched their baby take his final breath. Their other children began to scream.
Neighbor Mohammed Foyas, who visited the family after Hashim died and was present for his burial, confirmed the details to The Associated Press.
Asked who is to blame for the loss of his son, Taher is direct: the United States.
“In the camps, we survive only on rations,” he says. “Without rations, we have nothing — no food, no medicine, no chance to live.”
‘The lowest layer of hell’
Throughout Myanmar and in the refugee camps along its borders, the cuts in aid have left children screaming and crying for food. The U.S. says other countries need to step up, but some of those also have slashed humanitarian aid, sometimes claiming they need the funds for defense. And Myanmar’s population has already been weakened by years of war, making people vulnerable.
Health care services have been hobbled, and, in some places, vanished. The sick and the starving have wasted away, and people must forage for hours in the jungle each day to find food. Violence and stealing have surged, and young people are huffing glue to numb their hunger pains.
This story is based on interviews with 21 refugees, five people trapped inside Myanmar’s internment camps, and 40 aid workers, medics and researchers.
Safehouses that sheltered dissidents have shuttered, leaving people at the mercy of Myanmar’s merciless military, which has killed more than 7,300 civilians and imprisoned nearly 30,000 in its torture-rife detention centers since its takeover in 2021.
“For Myanmar, we are in the lowest layer of hell already,” says Victor, who headed an emergency program for the aid group Freedom House that helped hundreds who defied Myanmar’s military regime.
Since the U.S. cuts shut down the program, around 100 civilians have sent Victor frantic messages pleading for help he can no longer give.
“I don’t know what to tell them,” says Victor, who goes by one name.
Though the U.S. only spends around 1% of its budget on foreign aid, Trump declared USAID — once the world’s leading donor of humanitarian assistance — a waste of money and dissolved it.
Kneecapped by aid cutbacks, the U.N.'s World Food Program in April severed assistance to 1 million people across Myanmar. In central Rakhine, the number of families unable to meet basic food needs has jumped to 57% from 33% in December 2024, according to the WFP.
The military has long been accused of blocking aid to parts of Rakhine. The funding cuts have thus made an already critical situation even more dire, says Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK.
“These U.S. cuts to humanitarian aid are assisting the military in their genocidal policy of starvation against the Rohingya,” says Tun Khin.
(Read the rest of this shocking article at the link below. -- Suzi)
https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-usaid-thailand-trump-rubio-aid-7f6919a1863ceea2ddf6708e47bb88f0
"A study published in The Lancet journal in June said the U.S. funding cuts could result in more than 14 million deaths, including more than 4.5 million children under age 5, by 2030."
This was caused by the Trump administration. Is this the man half of America says deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? Decide for yourself. -- Suzi
@Cliff-Mashburn saidWhy do you support America, who has historically been the source of most humanitarian aid, abandoning these people and many more in Africa?
Just curious, what are other countries doing about this?
It's pure evil.
Fourth Reich material.
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@Suzianne saidJust answer the question.
Why do you support America, who has historically been the source of most humanitarian aid, abandoning these people and many more in Africa?
It's pure evil.
Fourth Reich material.
All these other countries you say are soooo much better than America, what are they doing? What are their next door neigbor countries doing? What are other Asian countries doing? Is Japan or China doing anything?
@Suzianne saidThat's the current trumptarded supposed Christian pro-life movement for ya. But hey, at least they force their ten year old daughters whom are rape victims, to carry an egg with a sperm-cell in it from their rapist into a full-grown baby from their rapist, so that they can be traumatized for the rest of their lives (Charlie Kirk special). Pro-life YEA!!!! 🙄
Why do you support America, who has historically been the source of most humanitarian aid, abandoning these people and many more in Africa?
It's pure evil.
Fourth Reich material.
@Cliff-Mashburn saidWhat is YOUR country doing?
Just answer the question.
All these other countries you say are soooo much better than America, what are they doing? What are their next door neigbor countries doing? What are other Asian countries doing? Is Japan or China doing anything?
Less than nothing. They are blatantly engineering the deaths of up to 14 million people through starvation and disease.
Do you even understand how many people 14 million people are? And 4.5 million of that figure are children. Hitler killed 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
@Cliff-Mashburn saidRead up on that story for yourself because that opening post is utter rubbish. In Myanmar, the population is mostly Buddhists, and there is a minority Islamic population of about 4%. The Buddhists take great pride in their religion and lifestyle. The Muslims although a minority [and we disucssed this in another thread pertaining to Europe v Muslims], are a threat to the Myanmar lifestyle and culture. The Myanmar government has clamped down on them and hence the alleged persecution.
Just answer the question.
All these other countries you say are soooo much better than America, what are they doing? What are their next door neigbor countries doing? What are other Asian countries doing? Is Japan or China doing anything?
Lots of aid from nearby rich Islamic states are sent to this region to help the Rohingya [Muslim] people. What the US is doing is reducing aid to countries where it is not critical. Basically, many of these countries have to look after themselves instead of reproducing prolifically and expecting some other person to care for your children.
US aid to Myanmar prior to Trump cuts was in the vicinity of $200,000,00 US/year, but it is estimated that as much as 75% of this is lost to waste, corruption and fraud. It never benefits the intended recipient. Also you have in Myanmar a negative attitude towards the US. They mostly hate Americans because they are not a democratic country and relations with the US is mostly strained.
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@Rajk999 saidThank you, I figured it was just more bullchit from suzy.
Read up on that story for yourself because that opening post is utter rubbish. In Myanmar, the population is mostly Buddhists, and there is a minority Islamic population of about 4%. The Buddhists take great pride in their religion and lifestyle. The Muslims although a minority [and we disucssed this in another thread pertaining to Europe v Muslims], are a threat to the M ...[text shortened]... te Americans because they are not a democratic country and relations with the US is mostly strained.
@Suzianne saidcliff i think wants to hear you say that usa is doing more than any other country and then to say how much more should the usa do while we give health care to a neighboring country, mexico
What is YOUR country doing?
Less than nothing. They are blatantly engineering the deaths of up to 14 million people through starvation and disease.
Do you even understand how many people 14 million people are? And 4.5 million of that figure are children. Hitler killed 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
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@MickeyD saidI also want Suzy to know that we have problems of our own, like a million homeless people that could use the aid she wants to give to tin pot dictators that will just put it in their pockets and then ask for more.
cliff i think wants to hear you say that usa is doing more than any other country and then to say how much more should the usa do while we give health care to a neighboring country, mexico
@Cliff-Mashburn saidThis is exactly the problem. US aid although well intentioned and useful, is wasted. Instead of giving Myanmar US$200M, they could give 1/10 th of that, and have some US rep manage it properly so that the needy people can benefit. I think this is the intention of the Trump administration. Yes, some people are going to suffer and die as well but these people need to keep their dick in their pants, stop reproducing like rabbits, and try to help themselves.
I also want Suzy to know that we have problems of our own, like a million homeless people that could use the aid she wants to give to tin pot dictators that will just put it in their pockets and then ask for more.
This Rohingya population was about 300,000 about 30 years ago, and now they are 1,500,000. When did they get the time to do this if they are being persecuted, killed and starved to death.
@Rajk999 saidSue sees an answer to all this. Sounds good but if put into practic, it would be a failing adventure, and guess who loses, we do. The only way I can see it done is to tax all the billionaires 95% and use that money. The rest of us support Mex Health care, but then we would be looking for jobs when the billionaires crumble, and we are laid off, and we would have to stop healing the Mexicans. We die, they die, everyone, including the africans, die. I guess the billionaires die too??
This is exactly the problem. US aid although well intentioned and useful, is wasted. Instead of giving Myanmar US$200M, they could give 1/10 th of that, and have some US rep manage it properly so that the needy people can benefit. I think this is the intention of the Trump administration. Yes, some people are going to suffer and die as well but these people need to keep t ...[text shortened]... 0. When did they get the time to do this if they are being persecuted, killed and starved to death.
@MickeyD saidThe US has been giving aid to the rest of the world for over 200 years, and after WWII it started to give more generously. There is no indication that the US citizens are losing anything. US aid is usually about 1% of the US budget which is really small potatoes and a very small price to pay for getting the goodwill of the rest of the world. What they should do is ensure it is not wasted.
Sue sees an answer to all this. Sounds good but if put into practic, it would be a failing adventure, and guess who loses, we do. The only way I can see it done is to tax all the billionaires 95% and use that money. The rest of us support Mex Health care, but then we would be looking for jobs when the billionaires crumble, and we are laid off, and we would have to stop heali ...[text shortened]... icans. We die, they die, everyone, including the africans, die. I guess the billionaires die too??
Im not a fan of such high tax rates. It has been shown that high tax rates can be detrimental to invention and innovation, which is critical to progress.
@Rajk999 saidEverytime a liberal says something about something they want to spend, they will say it is 'only about 1%". 1% here and 1% there adds up to a lot of percent. If there are 15 liberal programs, like the innocent USAID program at 1%, that will all add up to 15% of the United States Money, going purely to liberal causes, Some people want another 1% to go our military for more ammo, but the liberals do not want to spend that 1%.
The US has been giving aid to the rest of the world for over 200 years, and after WWII it started to give more generously. There is no indication that the US citizens are losing anything. US aid is usually about 1% of the US budget which is really small potatoes and a very small price to pay for getting the goodwill of the rest of the world. What they should do is ensure i ...[text shortened]... n that high tax rates can be detrimental to invention and innovation, which is critical to progress.
@MickeyD saidYou obviously have missed my point that the sin here is Trump refusing to aid nearly half the world. America is wealthy enough to do it, but loves wealth too much to share. This is Trump's legacy.
cliff i think wants to hear you say that usa is doing more than any other country and then to say how much more should the usa do while we give health care to a neighboring country, mexico