US President Donald Trump has extended Washington’s national emergency declaration over Myanmar for one more year, saying the situation in the country continues to pose an “extraordinary threat” to the US.
On Feb. 10, 2021, then President Joe Biden imposed a national emergency declaration over Myanmar in response to the military takeover.
In an executive order signed on Feb. 4, Trump said the situation in and in relation to Myanmar, in particular to the coup, “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.
“For this reason, the national emergency declared on February 10, 2021, must continue in effect beyond February 10, 2025… I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14014 with respect to the situation in and in relation to Burma [Myanmar],” Trump said in his notice transmitted to the US Congress.
The notice cited the Myanmar military’s overthrowing of the democratically elected civilian government, and its unjust arrests and detentions of elected civilian leaders, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists and religious leaders.
It said the Myanmar junta has undermined the country’s democratic transition and the rule of law, acting against the will of the people.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) Foreign Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung earlier told The Irrawaddy that the US government’s policies concerning Myanmar reflect a consistent approach shared by both the Democratic and Republican parties, making it unlikely that significant changes will occur under President Trump.
She wrote on social media following Trump’s announcement of the continuation of the executive order that the decision reflects that consistent approach.
“President Trump’s signature reaffirms this stance,” Daw Zin Mar Aung wrote.
Since the coup in February 2021, the junta has killed more than 6,200 people including 718 children and 1,408 women, and arrested over 28,000 dissidents, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group that monitors the junta’s killings and arrests.
The group said the actual numbers are likely much higher as not all victims’ identities have been verified yet.
In January this year alone, the junta killed over 170 people in aerial bombings of 40 towns across the country, according to data collected by The Irrawaddy.
In May 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the extension until Nov. 25 this year of temporary protected status for Myanmar nationals. The status allows people from a designated country to remain in the United States while conditions in their home country make safe return impossible.
