$17.3 Million in DEI Scholarships in Burma — Then the Military Staged a Coup

§ 01 / The Program

A Five-Year Diversity Scholarship Program. Launched in 2019. Coup in 2021.

In 2019, USAID launched the Burma Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program — a $17.3 million, five-year initiative designed to provide higher education scholarships to students from marginalized communities: ethnic minorities (Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and others), women from conflict-affected regions, and students from economically disadvantaged rural areas. The program was part of USAID’s broader Burma portfolio supporting democratic development following the partial political opening under Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.

On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) staged a coup, arrested Aung San Suu Kyi, declared a State of Emergency, and began a systematic crackdown on civil society, the press, and ethnic minority communities. The military government has since been responsible for documented mass atrocities against ethnic minorities, the killing of thousands of protesters, and the arrest of civil society workers — including the exact categories of people USAID’s scholarship program was designed to benefit.

The Program Continued After the Coup

USAID suspended direct engagement with Myanmar government institutions after the February 2021 coup. But the scholarship program itself, which operated through civil society partners and diaspora organizations rather than through government channels, continued disbursements. USAID’s position was that supporting ethnic minority and marginalized students in this environment was more important, not less, given the coup — and that the program could continue safely because it did not route funds through junta-controlled institutions. The OIG reviewed this determination and noted the oversight risks of operating in a post-coup environment with military control over border movement, communications, and civil society registration.

§ 02 / The Timeline

Launched Under a Democracy. Continued Under a Junta.

2019

USAID launches Burma Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program; five-year award for scholarships targeting ethnic minority students, women, and students from conflict-affected regions.

Feb 2021

Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) stages coup. Aung San Suu Kyi's government overthrown. State of Emergency declared. Military arrests civil society leaders, journalists, and student activists.

2021–2022

USAID suspends direct engagement with Myanmar government institutions. Programs operating through civil society partners and diaspora organizations continue under modified oversight protocols.

2022–2023

USAID scholarship program continues disbursements to students, primarily through partner organizations operating outside Myanmar or in areas outside junta control. Myanmar civil war intensifies.

Jan 2025

Executive Order 14169 suspends all U.S. foreign assistance. Burma DEI scholarship program suspended alongside all other USAID programs globally.

2025

DOGE flags the $17.3M program as part of USAID global review. Program terminated.

§ 03 / The DEI Framework

The “Diversity” in Burma Is Ethnic Minorities Being Massacred. The Scholarship Program Called It DEI.

Burma’s ethnic diversity is not an abstract corporate concept — it is the political fault line that has driven decades of civil war. The Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Rohingya are ethnic minorities whose communities have faced persecution, displacement, and documented genocide by the Tatmadaw. Providing scholarships to students from these communities has a direct human rights rationale that is entirely distinct from the DEI framework the Biden administration applied to domestic federal agencies and foreign assistance programs.

DOGE flagged this program under the same category as domestic DEI spending — a classification that conflated a humanitarian scholarship program targeting genocide survivors with corporate diversity training. The program’s problems — operating in a post-coup authoritarian environment, post-coup oversight limitations, and the legitimacy question of whether Americans should fund Burmese scholarships indefinitely — are real. They are not the problem of DEI ideological capture.

“Myanmar security forces have committed widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, including ethnic minority communities. The military has engaged in killings, torture, arbitrary detention, and the destruction of civilian property.”
State Department — 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Burma (Myanmar)

§ 04 / The Bottom Line

What This Means

$17.3 million in scholarships for ethnic minority students in a country where those same ethnic groups have faced military persecution and documented atrocities for decades, and where the military staged a coup midway through the program. DOGE flagged it as “DEI spending.” The accurate framing is more complicated: the program operated in a post-coup authoritarian environment with real oversight limitations, the students it benefited were from communities facing active military violence, and the “DEI” label obscured a humanitarian program with a legitimate rationale. Whether it should have continued after the coup — and whether American taxpayers should fund it — are fair questions. They are not the same question as whether DEI is appropriate in American workplaces.

Sources · 10 Citations