UK cuts aid to Burma from £66 million to £55 million

For Myanmar, Burma Campaign UK has strongly condemned the UK government's decision to cut aid from £66 million to £55 million in the current financial year. This cut is set to continue until 2029. The UK Foreign Office quietly included the details of the aid cut in the appendices of its biennial report, rather than publicly announcing it. According to the report, the people of Myanmar will only receive £55.3 million, which is less than half of the amount the UK provided before the 2021 coup. Burma Campaign UK states that the Myanmar military junta is deliberately attacking homes, schools, and clinics to demoralise the people and create a humanitarian crisis. Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK, criticised the cut, saying that UK aid saves the lives of the Myanmar people, and this cut is pushing them to their deaths, effectively helping the military government. According to civil society groups, there may be up to 5 million internally displaced people in Myanmar, and 80 percent of the population is facing poverty. Since the coup, over 100,000 people have died due to conflict in Myanmar, and the military government is conducting airstrikes at a rate of once every two and a half hours, with a child dying on average every 29 hours. Anna Roberts said that the UK is cutting aid that goes to the people instead of cutting off weapons and money flowing to the Myanmar military government. Reference – Burma Campaign UK