As a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on March 28, killing over 140 and injuring hundreds, the humanitarian fallout extended far beyond the epicenter. Along the Thai-Myanmar border, tens of thousands of refugees were left exposed and unprotected—not just by nature’s force, but by a political decision months earlier: the Trump administration’s suspension of all foreign aid.
The 90-day freeze, enacted in January 2025, resulted in the abrupt shutdown of key medical facilities in border camps like Mae La, which houses more than 34,000 displaced people. Organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) were forced to halt operations, including emergency health services. The consequences were immediate: patients requiring dialysis and other chronic care were left to die. When the earthquake struck, there were no functional clinics left to respond.
Aid workers on the ground say the region was already in crisis before the quake. Food distribution programs had been gutted, schools shuttered, and basic medical supplies rationed. The quake simply pushed a fragile system over the edge. “We weren’t just underprepared—we were abandoned,” said one field nurse working with displaced Karen families. “The U.S. used to be our main line of support. Now, there’s no one.”
Following the earthquake, Myanmar’s military junta made a rare appeal for international assistance. But the U.S., still in the midst of a full-scale USAID restructuring, has been slow to respond. The Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART), once a model for rapid deployment, have been crippled by internal chaos as their operations are moved under direct State Department control. Former USAID officials warn that the agency’s ability to deliver crisis aid has been “kneecapped.”
President Trump has claimed that aid will resume soon and that the U.S. stands ready to help. But so far, assistance has been symbolic, and delays persist. Meanwhile, China has moved quickly to fill the vacuum, offering earthquake relief and pledging infrastructure support in Myanmar—part of its broader strategy to extend regional influence.
Refugees and displaced families now face a lethal convergence of manmade and natural disaster. The clinics are closed. The shelters are weakened. The aid isn’t coming.
And the ground is still shaking.
