GENEVA

A UN human rights expert on Thursday denounced the US's decision to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for people fleeing Myanmar, calling it a direct attack on fundamental rights.

The decision "is an assault on human rights and human decency based on a cruel fiction that ignores overwhelming evidence of Myanmar's spiraling crisis," Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, said in a statement.

"Defying reality, this decision puts thousands at extreme risk while legitimizing a brutal regime that continues to use weapons of war to attack civilians," he said.

The US Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that TPS for Myanmar will end on Jan. 26, 2026, affecting nearly 4,000 people. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that conditions in Myanmar "no longer hinder the safe return" of its nationals.

Andrews called reliance on the junta's promised elections "deeply disturbing," adding: "The sham polls being staged by the junta are nothing more than a charade to entrench military dominance."

He warned that many TPS holders are activists, journalists and opposition figures who face detention, torture or execution if returned. Forced returns, he said, could violate non-refoulement protections.

"It is in the United States’ national interest—and consistent with its international obligations—to protect those who will help rebuild Myanmar as a democratic, rights-respecting nation," Andrews added.