{"id":317963,"date":"2025-11-28T04:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T04:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/317963\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T04:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T04:14:08","slug":"a-constant-fear-myanmar-nationals-face-imprisonment-back-home-as-us-ends-protected-status-myanmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/317963\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A constant fear\u2019: Myanmar nationals face imprisonment back home as US ends protected status | Myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aung* was finishing his studies in New York when Myanmar\u2019s junta tried to conscript him into the civil war raging in his homeland.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Now, as the country\u2019s 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> \u2013 a decision that has put the lives of 4,000 nationals like Aung in jeopardy, all while lending legitimacy to the country\u2019s military government.<\/p>\n

Myanmar\u2019s military seized power in a February 2021 coup<\/a>, overthrowing the elected government and violently suppressing dissent. A patchwork of armed resistance has emerged since<\/a>, with some fighters joining longstanding ethnic armies as the junta increasingly uses airstrikes and fresh conscripts to counter opposition.<\/p>\n

But the Trump administration says the junta\u2019s planned election, and successful ceasefire agreements<\/a>, show progress in the south-east Asian nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation in Burma has improved enough that it is safe for Burmese citizens to return home, so we are terminating the Temporary Protected Status,\u201d Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced this week.<\/p>\n

The regime welcomed the decision, with spokesperson Major-General Zaw Min Tun telling media that Myanmar nationals in the US can return home to vote, extending \u201ca welcoming hand\u201d for them to participate in \u201cbuilding a modern, developed, and progressive nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m in limbo\u2019<\/p>\n

The US Temporary Protective Status is short-term protection that shields foreign nationals from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work. It will be revoked for Myanmar nationals on 26 January, in a move that has filled the diaspora community in the US with panic and fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are some of the grateful few that had the chance to escape, but there\u2019s still a constant fear that looms over us about having to go back,\u201d says Aung, one of three Myanmar nationals who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Aung has a student visa until 2026, but worries that once it expires he might be deported. After this week\u2019s announcement, he has already started on an asylum claim.<\/p>\n

Asylum provides a pathway to permanent residency, but it is granted to people who can show they face persecution on specific grounds. The TPS, by contrast, is short-term protection to people from countries hit by disaster, allowing them to work in the US while conditions at home remain unsafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll have a future here,\u201d he says, \u201cI\u2019m in limbo.\u201d<\/p>\n

A young demonstrator lights a flare during an anti-coup protest in Yangon, Myanmar in 2022. Photograph: NurPhoto\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

In 2019 Su Htet* arrived in Washington DC on a student visa and graduated in 2023. Although she is authorised to work she says the city feels increasingly \u201cscary\u201d with regular news of immigration raids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the 2021 coup, she organised virtual demonstrations and fundraisers for Myanmar\u2019s striking civil servants. In June this year, officials visited her family home in Myanmar looking for her and her brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend and his siblings were arrested, beaten and tortured by the regime,\u201d she says. \u201cHe was finally released, but he\u2019s no longer involved in anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given her activism and her faith \u2013 she is Muslim in a country where ethnic and religious minorities have long borne the brunt of state violence \u2013 she fears that returning home is a real danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust by appearance alone I\u2019d assume they\u2019d question me. Googling my name, they\u2019ll see I\u2019ve spoken out against them,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m pretty scared. I\u2019m alone here; I don\u2019t have any family with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lungpi*, a Christian from an ethnic minority, secured a scholarship to study in the US. Soon afterwards, soldiers torched his town, leaving it in ruins, forcing his relatives to flee across the border. \u201cYou can imagine, all their houses are burned,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Lungpi was granted temporary protection and an education sponsorship, but once that expires, he says, \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of anxiety\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMyanmar is far from being safe,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d definitely be arrested if I had to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

International Crisis Group senior Myanmar adviser Richard Horsey says Myanmar remains \u201cdeeply unsafe with no meaningful improvements in security or governance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Elections planned for the coming weeks are \u201cprovoking further repression\u201d, he says, adding that those who returned would \u201calmost certainly come under scrutiny and face serious risk of detention or mistreatment\u201d.<\/p>\n

By framing these developments as justification for ending temporary protection, Washington \u201crisks reinforcing the regime\u2019s narrative\u201d and could signal to other governments that they can restart ties based on elections, rather than real improvements, he warns.<\/p>\n

Aung, who has built a life in New York, is determined not to fall into the junta\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir aim is to oppress,\u201d he says. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re young and educated in Myanmar, you\u2019re always an enemy of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Names have been changed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aung* was finishing his studies in New York when Myanmar\u2019s junta tried to conscript him into the civil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-317963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}