Thousands of Myanmar diaspora are at risk of deportation, after the US said they no longer required Temporary Protective Status
Aung* was finishing his studies in New York when Myanmar’s junta tried to conscript him into the civil war raging in his homeland.
Terrified by the idea, Aung applied for Temporary Protective Status (TPS) in the United States, hoping that by the time he finished his degree the conflict might have calmed. Instead, the war has only escalated.
Now, as the country’s ruling junta plans to hold what are widely seen as sham elections this December, the US government has revoked temporary legal status for citizens of Myanmar – a decision that has put the lives of 4,000 nationals like Aung in jeopardy, all while lending legitimacy to the country’s military government.
Myanmar’s military seized power in a February 2021 coup, overthrowing the elected government and violently suppressing dissent. A patchwork of armed resistance has emerged since, with some fighters joining longstanding ethnic armies as the junta increasingly uses airstrikes and fresh conscripts to counter opposition.
