The Trump administration has dismissed three staff members from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) who were in Myanmar providing assistance following the devastating earthquake that claimed numerous lives. According to Marcia Wong, a former senior USAID official who spoke to Reuters, these staff members were in the country to assess the needs for earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts in the affected areas.
The three staff members received their termination notices while they were in Mandalay city, with one member having traveled from Washington DC and the other two from Manila and Bangkok respectively. These individuals had been working diligently in the earthquake-affected regions, sleeping on the streets of Mandalay alongside local residents who were facing disaster conditions, as reported by former senior USAID official Marcia Wong.
While the U.S. government had announced nearly $9 million in aid for Myanmar’s earthquake relief efforts, three American organizations, including USAID leadership, have criticized the current administration’s policies for preventing full assistance delivery to Myanmar’s earthquake victims. Following U.S. Secretary of State Mike Rubio’s rejection of these criticisms, the USAID staff members who were present in the disaster zone were terminated from their positions. This situation has highlighted the challenges in delivering international aid effectively during natural disasters, particularly when affected by administrative and policy decisions.
