Hope from the Grassroots: Burma

By Josh Leach on February 26, 2025

The U.S. government may be abandoning its international commitments—but UUSC and our partners never will. In this three-part series, we share regional updates from our partners. These grassroots groups use innovative, community-led solutions to advance collective liberation, regardless of whether government officials are on board. U.S. officials may be walking back from international commitments—but our partners around the world are still putting themselves on the line to protect their communities. We will never abandon them. 

What’s Happening in Burma

Since the brutal military junta in Burma claimed power in a 2021 coup, the country’s people have been fighting for their lives to protect Burmese democracy. What began as a nonviolent civil disobedience movement was forced—out of self-defense—to become an armed struggle to overthrow the junta’s brutal regime and restore democratic institutions. Four years later, this conflict continues to rage. 

Though their measures never went far enough, previous U.S. administrations at least sought to sanction the Burmese junta and provide humanitarian aid to its victims. With the start of the second Trump administration, however, there is a grave risk the U.S. government will walk back even these limited commitments. 

Some Burmese refugees, who had already been approved and bought plane tickets to come to the United States, have been turned away at the last minute, due to Trump’s complete shutdown of the U.S. refugee program. The administration’s freeze on humanitarian aid funding has also severely impacted Burma’s pro-democracy movement, jeopardizing U.S. support for efforts to reverse the coup.

Our Partners’ Response

With or without U.S. support, our grassroots partners in Southeast Asia will continue to step up where politicians have failed. The Coordination Team for Emergency Relief, for example, provides direct food and shelter assistance to Burmese refugees in Thailand who have been displaced by the junta’s crimes. Similarly, the Karen Peace Support Network provides support to generations of Karen people (an ethnic subgroup in Burma) who have survived persecution and trauma in the country’s decades-long struggle for democracy and ethnic inclusion. 

U.S. officials threaten the work of our Burma partners as they attempt to shut down existing federal funding.  With UUSC’s support, they will keep fighting for a just and equitable future. You can help sustain their efforts with a donation to UUSC. A contribution in any amount helps our partners defend human rights.

Image credit: Micah Bazant