Dear Prime Minister Albanese,
We are writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch regarding your meeting with US President Donald Trump on October 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. We urge you to defend the international human rights system, raise concerns about US foreign aid cuts while committing to more Australian aid, and encourage a stronger and coordinated response to the Chinese government’s human rights violations.
Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization that reports on and advocates for human rights in some 100 countries around the world.
Your September 24 speech to the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the achievements of the UN and the vital and lifesaving work it has done over the past 80 years. Your observation that international legal order is imperiled “[i]f we allow any nation to imagine itself outside the rules, or above them,” is a timely reminder in an era in which so many leaders around the world are doing just that.
During your meeting with President Trump, we urge you to defend the UN system and the international rule of law and be clear that cutting US foreign assistance and UN funding directly affects millions of people around the world. Restoring UN funding is crucial so that the world body and its agencies can continue their core functions.
The Trump administration’s actions are undermining global institutions and efforts that Australians care about and have benefited from, and that have achieved significant advances. The US has withdrawn from numerous institutions that Australia has invested in for decades, including the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, and other multilateral agencies that promote multilateral action against epidemics, atrocity crimes, and climate change. We ask that you urge President Trump to reconsider his cuts to these important institutions.
In sanctioning International Criminal Court officials, a UN rights expert, and three leading Palestinian civil society organizations for supporting the court’s work, the Trump administration has sought to undermine an institution and an international justice system that Australia helped create and has supported for over 20 years. We urge you to call on President Trump to revoke the executive order authorizing these sanctions.
It is crucial that you discuss with President Trump the impact of US foreign aid cuts and cuts to UN agencies on the Asia-Pacific region. The US should maintain its direct foreign assistance in key areas, including emergency humanitarian aid and funding specifically designated to the promotion of democracy and human rights, especially to organizations working on Myanmar, North Korea, and China. Australia has considerable credibility in calling for the US to resume aid, given it is one of only a few donor countries that is expanding its foreign assistance and developmental aid in the coming year. We urge you to announce additional foreign assistance funding and call on President Trump to reverse his funding cuts.
We also urge you to specifically raise the urgent needs of refugees and displaced persons, especially those most at risk in the region, such as those from Myanmar. Cuts in assistance to displaced persons significantly worsens their plight and fuels further migration and may compel people to attempt ever more dangerous routes or fall victim to trafficking.
The US cuts in foreign assistance and to UN agencies have exacerbated severe shortages of food and essential medical care to people in Myanmar and refugees and migrants. Aid groups recently reported that more than 100,000 children in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are suffering from acute malnutrition. The US has provided temporary short-term extensions for some aid grants but its cuts to bilateral and multilateral programs overall have drastically worsened the overall situation.
With respect to the upcoming ASEAN summit and follow-up to the UN High-level Conference on the Rohingya, we urge you to discuss with US officials new ideas for durable solutions for Myanmar and Rohingya refugees, including obtaining new pledges for resettlement and funding for host countries. The US and Australia should also seek a common strong position on the need for ASEAN countries, particularly Thailand, to adopt a tougher position on the Myanmar military by cutting its access to foreign funding and denying any support for the upcoming elections, which will fall far short of international standards.
We also urge you to discuss with US officials undertaking a more coordinated international response to China’s severe human rights violations. Australia and the US should agree, for instance, to press the Chinese government to account for persons missing and arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang, end their forced assimilation programs in Xinjiang and Tibet, and release pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders in Hong Kong and mainland China. We also recommend that Australia support new funding for civil society groups and exiled media working on China and urge the US to maintain its vital funding in this area.
You stated in your speech to the UN General Assembly that “It is not the Australian way to try and impose our values on other nations. But when we deal with the world, we bring our values with us.” We hope you will do so, and speak frankly with President Trump about these issues and the importance of strengthening multilateralism.
Thank you for your attention,
Daniela Gavshon
Australia Director
Sydney
John Sifton
Advocacy Director - Asia
Washington DC
