Family alleges a Burmese refugee died after being released from a closed US-funded facility

According to her relatives, a Burmese refugee who suffered from lung issues passed away after being released from a U.S.-funded hospital on the Myanmar-Thai border that was forced to close due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on foreign assistance.

Pe Kha Lau, 71, passed away on Sunday after experiencing dyspnea four days after being discharged from a U.S.-funded medical facility via the International Rescue Committee.

According to locals and humanitarian workers, the IRC shuttered and sealed hospitals in a number of refugee camps in late January after being given a “stop-work” directive by the U.S. State Department.

“We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Pe Kha Lau, and we are devastated to hear of this loss of life,” an IRC official told Reuters.

A request for comment from the U.S. embassy in Bangkok was not immediately answered.

Trump ordered the United States, the greatest humanitarian contributor in the world, to halt nearly all assistance efforts and start dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, which serves as its primary delivery vehicle.

Trump imposed a spending block on January 20th, which is expected to continue for 90 days while his government examines all foreign aid programs. Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s push to reduce the size of the federal government, and Trump have stated that the action is required to eliminate unnecessary expenditure.

Tens of thousands of refugees residing in camps atop mountains on the Thai border who are unable to return to Myanmar were assisted by the IRC’s facilities. According to the UN, the nation has been under anarchy since 2021, when the military overthrew an elected government. Since then, the fighting has killed thousands of civilians and displaced over 3.5 million people.

Pe Kha Lau’s relatives said she had been in the hospital for three years and was reliant on an oxygen supply.

She begged to return to the hospital after becoming unwell at home on Saturday night, her 50-year-old daughter Yin Yin Aye told Reuters while crying.

On the phone, she remarked, “I had to inform her that there is no hospital.”

While aid support was being “transitioned” to Thai authorities, members of the refugee community “self-organized” to guarantee vital services for their communities, an IRC representative earlier told Reuters.

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“Whenever she got short of breath, I would carry her right away back to the hospital and she would be fine,” stated Tin Win, Pe Kha Lau’s son-in-law, prior to the hospital closing.

He remarked, “We are extremely impoverished.” “My job is day labor. He remarked, “We cannot afford oxygen at home.”

According to him, the hospitals’ closures had resulted in the deaths of several other immigrants. Reuters was unable to verify his story.

Due to the delicate nature of the situation, a local Thai health official who wished to remain anonymous stated that while some patients received oxygen tanks during hospital closures, there were insufficient supplies.

In Umpiem camp, a secluded hillside location, the IRC facilities served as the main source of medical care.

Due to a lack of facilities, an 18-year-old refugee gave birth on February 1 in a former school after midwives transported laboring women there when the IRC facilities were unexpectedly closed, according to a relative and a schoolteacher.

Thai officials and refugee organizations are rushing to fill the void caused by the loss of U.S. foreign funding, while the refugees are being treated in state-run facilities.

The Trump administration’s suspension has damaged aid activities worldwide, including the complex system that helps prevent and respond to famine, according to humanitarian organizations.