The Trump administration draws American humanitarian workers in the Myanmar earthquake area

Trump administration officials dismissed workers from the main American aid agency who were sent to Myanmar to assess how the United States could help relieve rescue efforts, according to three people with knowledge of the actions.

The layoffs, carried out on Friday as workers were in the city of Mandalay, lying down from the rubble, raise doubts about the declared commitment of the Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pursue humanitarian and crisis aid, even if the organization of aid, the American agency for international development, is dismantled by the Trump administration.

More than 3,300 people were killed and more than 4,800 injured in Myanmar, according to estimates by the Burmese government. A tropical storm whipped a large part of the country on Saturday, with heavy rain and winds causing floods. The Trump administration was criticized by democratic and others legislators for what they called its derisory response.

The three experienced humanitarian workers received e-mails of dismissal which are specifically sent to them only a few days after their arrival in Myanmar, said that the three people knowing the situation, who are current and former USAID officials. They spoke under the cover of anonymity to avoid remuneration.

One of the humanitarian workers had come from Washington, and the other two from Bangkok and Manila, where the Assistance Agency has regional operations.

Other employees of the aid agency said they were furious at the way myanmar workers had been dismissed. In addition, American diplomats said on Friday that they feared that the changes in the upper ranks of the State Department which had taken place that day could predict purges and broader layoffs to get there. In addition to promulgating an American foreign policy, the ministry takes care of all the foreign aid now that USAID is dismantled.