US aid freeze is new threat for ailing Myanmar refugees on Thai border
THA SONG YANG, Thailand — A team of doctors and nurses battled to revive Adabi, an 86-year-old Myanmar refugee fighting long-standing heart problems and pneumonia, as her daughter watched tearfully in a hospital in northwestern Thailand.
"My mother has suffered heart disease for many years," said 39-year-old Lay Nge, who was too distraught to say more.
Adabi's plight followed a decision by US President Donald Trump to freeze most foreign aid, bringing healthcare services to a halt in her mountainside refugee camp, forcing seriously ill residents to turn to government facilities for treatment.
The US aid helped fund services provided by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to tens of thousands of refugees like Adabi living in camps on the border between Thailand and Myanmar.
"After the IRC stopped its support, the patients didn't get help like medicine and other things," said Tawatchai Yingtaweesak, director of the Tha Song Yang hospital, where staff revived Adabi, who goes by one name.
An IRC spokesperson told Reuters in a WhatsApp message that members of the refugee community had "self-organised" to ensure critical services for their communities as the effort was "transitioned" to Thai authorities.
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The loss of foreign aid has left Thai officials and refugee groups scrambling to fill the gap, while state-run hospitals provide care for the refugees.
The Mae La refugee settlement where Adabi lives had one IRC-run hospital and two clinics to care for about 29,000 people, staffed by a handful of doctors, roughly 50 medical staff and 100 volunteers, said Tawatchai, the hospital official.
With the IRC facilities abruptly shut, staff moved their operation to a former school, where an 18-year-old refugee gave