After US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to halt international aid within days of taking office for his second term, health care for refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border who receive US aid has also been suspended since January 27. As a result, patients in hospitals in the camps are no longer being treated and are being discharged from hospitals, refugees say. VOA’s Ma Aye Aye Mar reports.
After US President Donald Trump temporarily suspended international aid, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a health care organization that provides US aid and assistance to refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border, has suspended its support for 90 days. As a result, health care services in refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border have also been suspended and patients in hospitals are being discharged, a refugee at Nu Po refugee camp told VOA.
“In two days, we will see sick people who are hospitalized today and tomorrow, Those who are admitted for various reasons, they are being asked to go home within 2 days. There is one patient I know. He had his head severed. He is breathing with a machine. I don’t know what to think about those people. I don’t know if those people will be asked to go back. All of them were asked to go home within 2 days. At Ohn Phan Hospital, there are patients who go to our hospital from the Nu Po camp. There are also patients who go for medical check-ups once a month. The most notable thing is that the patient who was supposed to go today will not go and will return. Both the patients who will go from us and the patients who go to our camp there will be sent back.”
Now, hospitals will also stop paying the salaries of health workers, and they are facing the fact that the hospital’s operating budget is gone, so they are not accepting patients anymore.
“In the hospital, there are patients who need oxygen, elderly patients who are dying, old people who are dying, and elderly patients. There are also people who are injured. They say, ‘We don’t have the budget. So we are sending them back because we can’t treat them anymore.’” “Those who were sent to the Ohn Phan hospital because there is not enough medicine in the refugee camp have already been released.”
The refugees are also worried that their food will be cut off and they will not be able to get it again. Much of the aid from the United States is provided by the US government’s international assistance agency, USAID, and from there it reaches non-governmental organizations. In addition, there is also food assistance, including health services for the refugees. Each refugee is supported at a rate of about 10 Thai baht per day, and the refugees on the Thai-Burma border are also worried that they will not receive food aid because of the US’s decision to stop international aid.
“I haven’t heard anything about food. I am also worried about food. As for food, we go by card system here, and when the month ends, our “quota” money is put into the card. We know whether the food will be reduced or not by the third day of the month. We will know if it comes in. If it doesn’t come in, something must have been cut.”
The Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) has confirmed that health services, part of the humanitarian assistance provided by the United States, have been suspended at the Thai-Burma border. The suspension of health services comes after the United States suspended the USRAP, which allows refugees to resettle in the United States. Now, refugees are worried about food shortages.
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