1st September 2024. Applications are open 6 weeks before the deadline every year with these dates.
About The Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships:
The Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships for the 2024/2025 session in Germany are now open for applications. The scholarship is available for German and international students from any higher education institution and discipline. The Foundation is closely associated with the German Green Party and seeks candidates who are aligned with the “green” political movement and the Foundation’s ideals of democracy, ecology, solidarity, and nonviolence.
To be eligible, applicants must have exceptional academic achievements, be socially and politically involved, and demonstrate a commitment to the values of green policy. The scholarship is designed for talented students who show potential for future academic and professional careers, and who are tomorrow’s experts and leaders.
The Foundation expects its scholarship recipients to maintain excellent academic records, be socially and politically engaged, and actively pursue the Foundation’s values of ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination, and justice.
Scholarship Benefits
Additionally, the Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships in Germany will cover the basic expenses of study in Germany.
Selection Procedure
The scholarship consists of three stages listed below:
Submission of written application documents.
An interview with a liaison lecturer (telephone interviews may also be held).
Attendance at a selection workshop in Berlin consisting of a one-to-one interview and a group discussion.
It is important to note that there is no age limit.
Required Documents For The Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships
Furthermore, applicants are to submit the following necessary documents:
Application Form
University entrance qualification or equivalent
A list of study certificates to date if you have already commenced your studies
For foreign applicants for a scholarship to study for a master’s degree: Certified copy of your first-degree certificate
Student enrollment certificate
Written proof of German language proficiency. Minimum DSH 2 or Level B2
An expert reference from a university or college lecturer.
A third-party reference on your social commitment
Eligibility Requirements For The Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships
Also, applicants who want to register for the Heinrich Boll Foundation Scholarships in Germany must meet the following requirements:
Must provide proof of the required level of German language (B2 oder DSH)
Must have excellent school grades and academic standing; if requested, first graded proofs of academic achievements
Social Engagement and interest in politics
Identification with the goals of the Foundation
Responsible, motivated, reliable individuals willing to play an active role in the Foundation’s work
Application Procedure
The application procedure is online. To begin your application, click this link. For further information, visit the official webpage.
Kenyan President William Ruto has called out the army after millions protested his mass austerity Finance Bill. Describing protesters as “treasonous” and “dangerous criminals” in a televised address, he said he would “treat every threat as an existential threat to our republic.”
In the early hours of the morning, anti-Finance Bill protesters surrounded the parliament building in the capital, Nairobi, in an attempt to shut down the economy and force Ruto to withdraw plans to raise more than $2 billion in new taxes from workers and the rural poor, as dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Protesters scatter as Kenya police spray water canon at them during a protest over proposed tax hikes in a finance bill in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, June. 25, 2024. [AP Photo/Brian Inganga]
Despite threats of police violence, internet shutdowns, and the arrests of hundreds the previous week, as well as the abductions of at least seven bloggers, activists, and social media political influencers, the mainly young protesters refused to be intimidated.
In a country that saw the Western-backed Daniel Arap Moi dictatorship carry out disappearances of left-wing workers and students by the Special Branch, they were fully aware they were confronting a bloody regime that had gunned down 75 protesters during anti-austerity protests last year.
In the afternoon, protesters stormed parliament and set parts of it ablaze after lawmakers passed the austerity bill now awaiting Ruto’s signature. They also torched a police vehicle. Lawmakers fled using underground tunnels or hid in ambulances.
Outside, police used live ammunition, teargas and truncheons, resulting in the deaths of at least 14 protesters. Police snipers reportedly shot protesters from rooftops.
Protesters carry the body of a man who was shot during a protest over proposed tax hikes in a finance bill in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2024. [Photo: Andrew Kasuku/WSWS]
In Nairobi’s central Kenyatta National Hospital, over 200 people were attended to with gunshot wounds.
Potentially thousands have been injured, and hundreds arrested.
Across the country, mass protests cut across the tribal divides that the Kenyan ruling class systematically cultivates. Protesters paralysed transport services and forced major businesses to close in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Kakamega, Nakuru and even Kericho, where residents pulled down Ruto’s party wheelbarrow symbol. The main chants were “Reject” and “Ruto must go.”
In Eldoret, Ruto’s hometown, the county court and police offices were torched.
In Nairobi Central Business District (CBD), most shops remained closed throughout the day. Police attempted to disperse protesters in the morning, hurling teargas canisters. This failed, as tens of thousands marched into the CBD, disrupting traffic along the capital’s major arteries.
Small diaspora-led protests also took place in Los Angeles and Washington D.C in the US and in London, UK.
KTN news and other media said they had received orders from the government to stop covering the protests. Authorities also slowed down the Internet throughout the evening, while social media such as X/Twitter were shut down.
The popular uprising has shaken the government and the entire Kenyan ruling class. It has raised fears in capitals around the African continent and internationally of an eruption of mass opposition driven by a global capitalist crisis that has been compounded first by the COVID-19 pandemic, then the US-NATO war on Russia, and now the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
Small protests centered in Nairobi last Tuesday quickly escalated into a mass movement. By Thursday, demonstrations had spread across major cities and towns as lawmakers passed a second reading of the Finance Bill. The day ended with the gunning down of a 29-year-old protester, which fueled calls for yesterday’s national shutdown. A poster calling for a national strike spread across social media.
Clinical officers striking for over 85 days have joined the protests and volunteered to provide emergency medical teams. Workers at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital, one of the largest in Nairobi, have gone on strike over nonpayment of wages.
Despite these limited and isolated actions, the trade union apparatus is the major restraining hand on workers joining the anti-austerity movement with their own demands, despite many members participating.
The trade unions are not instruments for waging class struggle, but appendages of the employers and the government for suppressing it. They have refused to mobilise the tens of thousands employed in the manufacturing, food processing, chemical production, plastics and metal works in the industrial area in Nairobi.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of teachers and healthcare workers, who have repeatedly struck over the past five years against low wages and precarious job contracts, could be mobilised. In the port of Mombasa, six thousand workers could halt Ruto’s privatization plans, bringing the region to a standstill. Thousands of aviation workers, including at Kenya Airways, could block Kenya’s airspace. In rural areas, millions of tea, coffee, and horticulture wage workers could paralyse the countryside, in a country where 60 percent of revenue comes from the agriculture sector.
Instead, Francis Atwoli, secretary general of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), has defended the Finance Bill, stating that “people are being taxed everywhere and, indeed, if we pay tax and the money is used properly we will evade the issue of borrowing money.”
COTU consists of 36 trade unions representing more than 1.5 million workers, but these unions have a sordid history of suppressing strikes and protests, including that by 4,000 doctors earlier this year.
Ruto is preparing to impose more police state measures, such as the Assembly and Demonstration Bill, 2024, restricting where protests can take place and imposing draconian fines for “violations” of up to $770, equivalent to half a year’s average wage.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is stoking communalist politics in central Kenya by promoting Kikuyu tribalism to drive a wedge into the working class and oppressed masses.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has accused protesters of being manipulated by “foreign hands,” with veiled references to Russia and even the US, which only weeks ago declared Kenya a non-NATO US ally.
“America and Kenya: Divided by distance. United by democratic values,” said President Biden during Ruto’s visit. Yesterday, these “democratic” values were exposed in the blood-covered streets of Nairobi, and as Ruto dispatched 400 police to Haiti to terrorise the population of the Caribbean island in the service of US imperialism.
The developing movement is a challenge not just to Ruto and his government, but to the entire political establishment, including the Azimio coalition opposition led by millionaire Raila Odinga, who has been noticeably absent from the demonstrations.
Last year, Odinga called off mass opposition to Ruto over the Finance Bill 2023, when the movement threatened to intersect with calls for strike action by civil servants. Odinga is part of the 0.1 percent of the Kenyan population (8,300 people) which, according to Oxfam, owns more wealth than the bottom 99.9 percent (more than 48 million people).
Yesterday, in a token gesture of opposition, Azimio lawmakers left parliament to join the protesters, saying that amendments to the Bill would have come to naught.
The movement threatens other authoritarian East African regimes facing similar conditions as Kenya, such as Uganda and Rwanda, run by despotic US allies, Paul Kagame in Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni in Uganda.
Earlier this month, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, ground to a halt, with electricity cut and major airports closed as workers went on strike at key transmission stations and in aviation to demand salary increases. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ended fuel subsidies and devalued the naira, leading to inflation surging to a 28-year high.
The movement is also a threat to big business and global capital, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are seeking to make working people pay for the capitalist crisis. They are imposing similar measures in Argentina, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and elsewhere.
Three trials have begun in Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich against the right-wing terrorist Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens Movement) network centred around Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss, which the federal prosecutor’s office accuses of planning an attack on the Bundestag (parliament) and a violent coup. A total of 26 people have been charged so far.
Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss [Photo by Steffen Löwe / wikimedia / CC BY-SA 4.0]
Since May, the leading members of the conspiracy have been on trial in a specially constructed hall in Frankfurt’s Sossenheim district.
The so-called Reichsbürger Council was supposed to form a transitional government after a successful coup. According to the indictment, Reuss, a property entrepreneur and scion of an old noble family, was the “ringleader” and chairman of the council.
The trial against the “military arm” of the group has been ongoing in Stuttgart-Stammheim since April, and other leading members have been on trial in Munich since this month.
The president of the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court, Andreas Singer, spoke in advance of one of the largest state protection proceedings in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany: five judges, two supplementary judges and 22 defence lawyers will take part in the Stuttgart trial alone. The investigation files comprise 700 Leitz document folders.
The indictment makes clear that this is far from being a radical but harmless group of nutcases, but rather it is a networked organisation with a lot of money, a lot of weapons, the expertise to use them and detailed plans to commit massive, murderous terror. It has close links to the military and other state institutions. Although the ideological ideas of those involved are crude, they are widespread in right-wing extremist milieus.
The group had procured 382 firearms, 347 stabbing weapons and more than 148,000 pieces of ammunition. Its members include dozens of military officers. A group of 20 people was to enter the Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin with armed forces and arrest the politicians there. The police were to be placed under the control of the military and the government overthrown.
Former Bundestag member for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and judge of the Berlin district court Birgit Malsack-Winkemann is accused, among other things, of providing the military members of the group access to the Reichstag building. Malsack-Winkemann herself possessed several firearms, was a member of the “Council” and was intended to be the future “Minister of Justice” under Reuss.
At the same time, the group pursued the goal of establishing 286 “homeland defence companies” throughout Germany, which, according to the indictment, were to carry out purges after a coup. The military head of the group is said to have been 69-year-old former Bundeswehr (Army) Colonel Rüdiger von Pescatore, commander of a paratrooper battalion of Airborne Brigade 25, a predecessor of the Special Forces Command (KSK) military unit, until the mid-1990s.
Another accused member of the military arm is Maximilian Eder, 65, a former Bundeswehr colonel. He served in Kosovo, Afghanistan, at NATO headquarters in Brussels and with the KSK. The defendants Peter Wörner and Marco van Heukelum are also former KSK soldiers.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the defendants are ideologically united by three main things: most of them are either Reichsbürger followers, coronavirus deniers, QAnon conspiracy supporters—or all of the above.
Members of the Reichsbürger movement do not recognise the post-war Federal Republic of Germany and believe that the German Reich founded in 1871 continues to exist. In their view, the Federal Republic, on the other hand, is merely a limited liability company founded by the Western Allies and externally controlled—not least by “Jewish big capitalists,” as Prince Reuss had fantasised. The “new order” they conceive is to be based on the German Empire of 1871, and rule is not to be democratic.
According to the latest report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (as the Secret Service is called), the Reichsbürger scene comprises up to 25,000 followers, although the Secret Service absurdly claims that only 5 percent of them are right-wing extremists.
In fact, the defendants were not striving to establish a medieval fairytale kingdom, but a brutal military dictatorship whose main task was to work through lists of “enemies” who were to be liquidated.
“Treason was punishable by death—to be pronounced by Prince Reuss and executed by military courts,” reported the Süddeutsche Zeitung at the start of the trial. “And there were precise instructions on how the homeland defence companies were to proceed after the coup. They were to ‘clean up’. They were to ‘neutralise’ ‘counter-revolutionary forces from the left-wing and Islamic milieu’ and focus primarily on the cities. Resistance was suspected there.”
According to the indictment, the group around Prince Reuss emerged at the end of July 2021 with the aim of eliminating the state order of the Federal Republic of Germany by force of arms. At that time, there was an increase in dissident demonstrations against state-imposed coronavirus protection measures. However, it is obvious that there are numerous links to other right-wing terrorist conspiracies that have been uncovered in the past and then quickly covered up again.
This is most clearly demonstrated by the high number of members, or former members, of the KSK who are now standing trial. As we have shown in an earlier, detailed article on this topic, the “elite unit, which comprises just over 1,000 men, has a fascistic trail behind it. Its almost thirty-year history is accompanied by right-wing extremist incidents that have been repeatedly whitewashed and trivialised.”
The secretive combat unit, which is trained to track down and kill opponents, has repeatedly hit the headlines in recent years. In 2021, one of four KSK companies had to be disbanded because Hitler songs were sung at a farewell party. And the so-called “Hannibal” network, which includes commandos, elite police officers, secret service officers, judges and other civil servants from all over Germany, has its centre in the KSK. The similarities between the Hannibal and Reuss networks are obvious.
This is also evident in the three courtrooms. The defendants are celebrated by like-minded people and in many cases defended by well-known lawyers from the far-right scene who share their extremist views and represent them not only legally but politically.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on trial attendees wearing T-shirts with slogans such as “I believe in you” and travelling “like a caravan” from trial to trial. The far-right coronavirus denialist party “Die Basis” (The Base) was particularly well represented.
Several defendants and lawyers are members of this party. For example, the accused Johanna Findeisen-Juskowiak is being defended by Professor Martin Schwab. Both were parliamentary candidates for “Die Basis.” Schwab, who teaches law at the University of Bielefeld, accused the court of “the greatest abuse of the administration of justice.” He claimed that the indictment had been constructed so that the government could declare a state of national defence and then remain in office beyond the 2025 Bundestag elections.
The defence bench includes far-right lawyer Olaf Klemke, who defended the accomplice and neo-Nazi German National Party (NPD) functionary Ralf Wohlleben in the trial of the fascist terrorist group National Socialist Union (NSU). Alongside him sit the QAnon-type activist Markus Haintz and the former front singer of the neo-Nazi band “Noie Werte,” Steffen Hammer. Malsack-Winkemann is being represented by the right-wing Cologne lawyer Jochen Lober.
The plan to establish a dictatorship in Germany under Prince Reuss was not successful. However, the plans for violence and murder by the accused and their circle show how dangerous and advanced the proliferation of ultra-right-wingers in the state apparatus, especially in the military, is. These are closely linked to the revival of German militarism and the associated shift towards authoritarian forms of rule.
The milieuof Reichsbürger, coronavirus deniers and other right-wing extremists that the group around Reuss draws upon is strongly reminiscent of the forces that Donald Trump mobilised to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021. His coup almost succeeded because parts of the military and the security apparatus stood behind it and allowed the attackers to storm the Capitol—and because the Democrats were not going to call on the masses to resist.
Studies published recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revealed that construction and mine workers in the US are committing suicide at alarming rates.
Construction workers help direct traffic outside a residential and commercial building under construction, Manhattan, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. [AP Photo/Mary Altaffer]
An analysis published last December by the CDC, based on data collected in 2021, reported that the suicide rates in these industries are nearly double the average of all occupations and the highest of 20 industry groups examined.
The CDC analyzed suicide deaths by industry and occupation in 49 states using data from the 2021 National Vital Statistics System. The study noted, “The suicide rate among the US working-age population has increased approximately 33 percent during the last 2 decades.”
The study found that “overall suicide rates by sex in the civilian noninstitutionalized working population were 32.0 per 100,000 among males and 8.0 per 100,000 among females.”
In the construction industry, the suicide rate among male workers was 56 per 100,000 and 10 per 100,000 for women. In the Construction and Extraction occupation group, which includes all building trades as well as mining, oil and gas workers, the rates were more than double the average, reaching 65.6 per 100,000 for men and 25.3 per 100,000 for women.
A similar analysis conducted by the CDC in 2016 from 32 states showed that suicide rates among Construction and Extraction were at 49.4 per 100,000 for men and 25.5 per 100,000 for women. This means that the suicide rate among men in these occupations went up by 33 percent between 2016 and 2021.
Some industry experts attribute the rapid rise in suicides to the intense pressures on these workers during a construction boom and an ongoing shortage of workers.
Much of the media coverage of the suicide rates among construction workers is concentrated on the issues of access to mental health services and combatting the stigma of mental health problems among this layer of workers.
While there is a significant need for mental health services, there are other issues that lie behind the rise in suicides that are part of the intensified exploitation of construction and extraction workers by the capitalist employers.
The first of these is the impact of injuries on workers. According to Dr. Mitchel Rosen, the director of the Center for Public Health Workforce Development at the Rutgers University School of Public Health, industry-related factors, such as injuries that damage muscles and tendons due to repetitive motions and constant use, compound the potential for suicidal ideation.
Rosen told NJ Spotlight News that working through some injuries due to insufficient paid time off or fear of unaffordable healthcare costs are among the contributing causes to suicide. Rosen also pointed out that 15 percent of construction and extraction workers are US military veterans, who also have a high rate of suicide compared to the rest of the population.
According to a report by NBC News on Monday, “A recent surge in construction projects, spurred by billions of federal dollars for infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductor projects have put increasing strain on an already stretched workforce.”
The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported in January that the construction industry would need an additional 500,000 workers to meet labor demands in 2024. Chief economist of ABC Anirban Basu said:
There are structural factors, including outsized retirement levels, megaprojects in several private and public construction segments and cultural factors that encourage too few young people to enter the skilled construction trades. …
More than 1 in 5 construction workers are 55 or older, meaning that retirement will continue to contract the industry’s workforce. These are the most experienced workers, and their departures are especially concerning.
NBC News also reported that $450 billion in funding provided by the Biden administration to the semiconductor industry to build 80 new manufacturing facilities in 25 states has led to excessive overtime and the relocation of workers needed for these high-pressure projects.
Intel is building a $20 billion facility in Arizona with financial support from the US government. NBC News reported workers are on the construction site for “two 60-hour weeks followed by a 50-hour week for months at a time in the hot Arizona weather with no paid vacation time.”
Many of these workers are coming from out of state and leaving their friends and families behind to live in temporary housing or hotels for months or years at a time. Josh Vitale, a superintendent for Hoffman Construction, the general contractor overseeing the construction of the Intel computer chip factory, told NBC News, “There’s a lot that goes into how stressful it is, not just physically, but mentally and psychologically … we have to realize that we are legitimately wringing the life out of people.”
Vitale continued, “It would be rare to find someone in the industry who hasn’t known a person that has taken their life within the last year or two. As an industry, we just keep putting more and more pressure on the worker to outperform what they’ve done before, and at some point, it’s just untenable.”
Elizabeth Clemens, the executive director for the New Jersey chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Suicide, told NJ Spotlight News that suicide is a complex issue with many factors contributing to it, including access to lethal means.
Clemens said, “I don’t think that specific occupations in and of themselves have higher rates due to the occupation itself.” She noted that access to physical and mental healthcare, reasonable workloads under safe conditions, and education and awareness can all reduce the risk factors.
While employer associations have referred to wages among construction workers as “skyrocketing” in the past year, average hourly wages increased 3.2 percent in 2023 to $30.73 per hour. Meanwhile, in 2020, the highest paid CEO in the construction industry, David Auld of D.R. Horton Inc., earned a compensation package worth $30 million.
In all, eleven members of the CCAT (Field Action Coordination Committee), alleged to be the main organising group behind the past month’s riots, face charges ranging from organised destruction of goods and property to incitement of murder or attempted murder of police.
New Caledonia in Oceania [Photo by Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0]
New Caledonia’s Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas said the indictments followed a decision made by one of two judges dedicated to the case. The transfer to France was organised “during the night by means of a plane specially chartered for the mission,” he said. The prisoners were dispatched on the pre-arranged flight in the early hours of Sunday.
The seven Kanak activists were deported, Dupas declared “due to the sensitivity of the procedure and in order to allow the investigations to continue in a calm manner, free of any pressure.” In other words, they are placed in a hostile environment, isolated from each other and their support base and at arm’s length from legal advice. A frame-up cannot be ruled out.
RNZ Pacific reported that the deportations were met with widespread shock and outrage. Tein’s lawyer Pierre Ortet said he was “stupefied” that his client was being sent to France, 17,000 kilometers away, accusing magistrates of “answering to purely political considerations.” Lawyer Christelle Affoue said: “With our clients in mainland France and us here, it will be very complicated to organise a proper defense.”
The activists are accused of being the “order-givers” within CCAT that was set up last year by UC, one of four parties of the FLNKS alliance. CCAT organised a series of marches and protests, mainly peaceful, to oppose plans by the French government to change eligibility rules for local elections, which the pro-independence movement said would further marginalise indigenous Kanak population votes.
Despite a massive police-military operation and pressure wielded by Macron, the rebellion has not been brought under control. The FLNKS admitted that it failed to persuade protesters to remove roadblocks because the young activists were not convinced Macron would drop the electoral reform. Macron announced on June 12 he had “suspended,” but not withdrawn, the contentious amendment.
Solidarity Kanaky, a pro-independence network in France, organised an emergency protest outside the Ministry of Justice in Paris on Sunday opposing the deportations and calling for the prisoners to be freed. The organisation has denounced the “criminalisation of CCAT” and the “abusive arrests, which once again are designed to meet the expectations of the most radical [pro-French] ‘loyalists.’”
There is no doubt the prison transfer was organised at the highest levels of the French state, including by Macron. Paris has turned the colony of just 270,000 people into an armed camp with over 3,700 security personnel, supported by armoured riot control vehicles, helicopters and other heavy equipment. Hundreds of military personnel patrol the streets and an 8.00 p.m.–6.00 a.m. curfew is being maintained.
Despite the authorities seeking to pin the blame on a handful of CCAT leaders, the riots erupted from below and remain outside the control of the official “independence” parties. The unrest expresses deepening social discontent, particularly among unemployed and alienated Kanak youth who see no future amid grinding inequality and an escalating economic crisis in the prevailing set-up. Maclellan posted on X/Twitter that they “burned symbols of wealth and targeted large shopping centres and businesses. They live in urban areas and face daily difficulties. With their families, they are in poverty. They don’t have a job.”
Amid the election campaign in France, the far-right Rassemblement National is backing Macron’s reforms, the “restoration of order” and continued French colonial domination of New Caledonia.
A recent Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) report on “forever chemicals” in drinking water across Australia’s eastern seaboard and further afield shows a large section of the population has been exposed to these cancer-causing substances for many years.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in numerous household products such as non-stick cooking utensils; stain-, grease- and water-resistant clothing and carpet, and cosmetics. They have also been used as fire retardants as they resist extremely high temperatures.
Barwon River in northern New South Wales [Photo by NSW Water / CC BY 4.0]
They have been dubbed “forever chemicals” as they don’t break down in the environment and accumulate with continued use. They persist in the human body and in animals, meaning that prolonged exposure is cumulative. The use of the chemicals has become so ubiquitous that they have been detected in the tissue of polar bears in extremely remote areas. There are more than 5,000 PFAS chemicals and only a few have been tested for their toxicity.
The SMH report included data from publicly available sources showing that the water supply of the country’s two most-populous cities, Sydney and Melbourne, has been contaminated with the toxic substances.
Suburbs named as most affected in Sydney include North Richmond, Quakers Hill, Liverpool, Blacktown, Emu Plains and Campbelltown. Regional centres in New South Wales such as Newcastle, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Lithgow, Gundagai and Yass had high concentrations.
In Melbourne, Footscray was named, while the pollutants were also detected in Queensland regional centres Cairns and Gladstone. They were present in the cities of Darwin, Adelaide, Hobart, and Canberra.
Australia is considered to be a PFAS contamination “hotspot” along with China, Europe and North America.
PFAS chemicals have been found to be a considerable health threat causing thyroid cancer and liver damage. High exposure can lead to decreased fertility, developmental delays in children and increased risk of some cancers, including prostate, kidney and testicular cancers.
This has led to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling in April that there is no safe level of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water, even at very low concentrations. The US has set a limit of 4 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA, while in December the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that PFOA was carcinogenic.
Senior Advisor to the National Toxics Network Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith told the SMH that it was a “national disgrace” that PFOA is permitted in Australia’s tap water at 140 times the maximum level the US will now allow. The accepted limit for Australia of PFOA is 560 parts per trillion.
The only Australian study into the prevalence of PFAS chemicals in drinking water funded by the federal government was conducted in 2011 by the University of Queensland. The report, “Concentrations of PFOS, PFOA and other per-fluorinated alkyl acids in Australian drinking water,” examined 34 locations around the country.
Some individual water authorities have since conducted their own testing and found higher levels than in the 2011 study.
The University of Queensland study warned, “Due to their ubiquity in the environment, adverse effects in toxicological studies, and currently uncertain human epidemiology, efforts have been made to limit [PFAS] production and release into the environment.”
The lack of concern for the health and safety of the population was starkly shown by the fact that governments did nothing to halt the importation of this dangerous class of chemicals, or even monitor the level of contamination in the water supply. The 2011 study remains the only systemic one conducted in Australia and monitoring has been left to individual water authorities.
In Sydney, the SMH revealed, only one site is regularly tested for PFAS, North Richmond, and the chemicals were detected there as recently as January.
Predictably the political authorities gave worthless reassurances of the safety of Sydney water. While New South Wales Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed PFOA is cancer-causing, the state’s Labor Premier Chris Minns claimed the city’s supply was “generally considered very good.”
In October, the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced that, by the end of 2023, nine toxic chemical groups including PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS would be banned from being manufactured or imported into Australia.
“After a decade of stagnation and falling behind the rest of the world… Labor is taking action on industrial chemicals including PFAS,” Plibersek said.
In spite of the considerable risks, the importation won’t be halted until July 2025.
Moreover, there is no suggestion that any Australian government will enact measures to remove PFAS contamination from the environment or the public water supply. According to the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, “in Australia both ‘conventional and advanced’ Drinking Water Treatment Plants are presently not designed to adequately treat PFAS to anywhere near the new U.S. guidelines.”
In an article published in April in the Conversation, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Kyle Doudrick, describes the complexities and huge costs of lowering the level of PFAS chemicals in the water supply to the new limits set in the US. The new requirements stipulate that if the concentration of PFAS chemicals exceeds the new limit, a treatment plant must be established by 2029.
Various estimates have been made as to the cost. The US EPA estimates US$1.5 billion per year while the American Water Works Association put the cost at over US$3.8 billion per year for PFOS and PFOA alone.
Once the chemicals are filtered out, the question remains of their disposal. Doudrick states that “PFAS are known as ‘forever chemicals’ for a reason—they are incredibly resilient and don’t break down naturally, so they are hard to destroy.”
The chemicals are known to break down at temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius, but this would be extremely energy intensive and potentially create harmful byproducts.
It has been well known since 1998 that PFAS chemicals have a deleterious effect on human health. Evidence has emerged that the manufacturers of PFAS knew of the safety problems with their chemicals from as early as 1961. A toxicologist at DuPont raised safety concerns that Perfluorooctanoic acid (C8), a PFAS chemical, was toxic and should be “handled with extreme care.”
3M, which began production of PFOA in 1947, noted signs of trouble in their workers exposed to high levels of these chemicals in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically at their Teflon factory in Parkersburg, West Virginia, a cluster of birth defects was possibly linked to PFOA. Their own internal documents had found these chemicals in fish and recognised their toxic potential.
The dangers were just as well known by governments, including in Australia. The Department of Defence ignored warnings dating back to at least 1987 that PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam should be treated as “toxic waste.”
Nevertheless, the use of PFAS proceeded, and the multinational chemical corporations continued to derive vast profits from their production. It is the working class, however, who will bear the cost of PFAS pollution, both through the expensive measures needed to decontaminate public water supplies, and through the enormous toll on health and lives. A 2019 study conducted by the Nordic Council of Ministers on health impacts linked to PFAS exposure estimated the annual cost to the European Union at €52–84 billion.
The issue of PFAS pollution is one reflection of the fact that, under capitalism, the health and lives of ordinary people and the environment are totally subordinated to the profit demands of the corporate elite.
In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, capitalist governments around the world abandoned even the most minimal mitigation measures, adopting a “forever COVID” program in the interests of big business. As a result, some 28 million people have been killed, even though the public health measures necessary to eliminate the virus were well understood.
Tell Me About MTCPAward: Do you want to study in a country in Southeast Asia? Then apply for MTCP Scholarship in Malaysia 2024. Eligible candidates should not miss to become a part of this tremendous opportunity, which will help them learn and enrich their knowledge in their area of interest. The Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) aspires to attract a talented pool of candidates from developing nations to Malaysia. In this way, the successful candidates will learn the required skills and abilities that would play their part in the development of their home countries and Malaysia as well.
The Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) was established in 1980 as Malaysia’s commitment to South-South Cooperation through the sharing of Malaysia’s development experiences and expertise with other developing countries.
The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education will not only provide you the chance to scale high-quality education but also will help you enjoy the positives of Malaysia in a due manner. Suppose you have a good academic background and an enthusiasm to do something different and bigger in your country. In that case, the Malaysian government is welcoming you with open arms under the global scholarship program.
The objectives of the MTCP are:
To share experience with other developing countries;
To strengthen bilateral ties with developing countries;
To encourage and promote South-South Cooperation; and
To encourage and promote technical cooperation within developing countries.
Type: Master
Who can Apply? Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) Scholarship applicants must COMPLY with the following criteria:
a. Not more than 45 years old at the time of application. b. For Master’s Degree Programme, applicants should obtain a minimum of Second Class Upper (Honours) or a minimum CGPA of 3.5 or equivalent at the Undergraduate Degree level. c. Proof of English Language Proficiency: i. Scanned copy of the original proof of English Language Proficiency such as IELTS (minimum total score 6) or TOEFL internet-based test (minimum total score of 60); or ii. Has obtained a previous degree(s) with English used as the medium of instruction. d. Has an excellent level of health certified by a doctor/physician. The cost of the medical check-up shall be fully borne by the applicant. e. Applicant must undertake full-time study for postgraduate programmes (Master’s Degree) at the selected Malaysian Universities (Please refer to List of Universities)
f. Application is only open to applicants who have received a valid admission offer letter/s from at least one (1) university in Malaysia but have not yet started their postgraduate studies or those who have registered for no more than one semester for a Master’s Degree.
How are Applicants Selected? High potential and excellent graduates who:
are citizens of the MTCP recipient countries*; and
intend to pursue full-time postgraduate studies (Master’s) in Malaysia. *refer to the List of MTCP Recipient Countries in the FAQ section
Applications will be considered according to the following selection criteria:
High-level academic and extra-curricular achievement.
Excellent communication, writing and reading skills in the English Language.
Which Countries are Eligible? Developing countries
Where will Award be Taken? Malaysia
List of Universities
Universiti Malaya (UM)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM/IIUM)
Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP)
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM)
Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP)
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT)
Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM)
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI)
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM)
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK)
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UNISZA)
How Many Awards? Not specified
What is the Benefit of Award? The MTCP Scholarship is sponsored by the Malaysian government and is dedicated to international students from the developing world to pursue their postgraduate studies in Malaysia, whilst at the same time acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills that could contribute to the development of their home country.
This scholarship covered: a. Tuition Fees b. Other allowances of RM3,500.00 per month which includes:
Cost of Living Allowance
Book Allowance
Tools Allowance
House Rental Allowance
Placement Allowance
Thesis Allowance
Travel Allowance
Practical Training Allowance
End of Study Allowance
Medical Allowance
Insurance Allowance
c. One-off return economy-class airline ticket from student’s closest international airport to Malaysia and back to student’s home country.
Method of Payment: Scholars will receive allowances as mentioned above from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia through their individual savings accounts. Scholars are advised to open any Malaysian Bank account immediately upon arrival in Malaysia
Duration of Award: The duration of the award is between 24 to 36 months for Master’s Degree Programme.
How to Apply: The online application system will be made available from 23rd May 2023 until 30th June 2023.
. All applications must be submitted through our online application system via the link https://biasiswa.mohe.gov.my/INTER/index.php All the documents below are COMPULSORY and to be UPLOADED via online application (scanned and saved in PDF format): a. Application form (to be filled in the online system); b. Latest Admission Offer Letter from Malaysian Universities for academic intake 2023 (Please refer to List of Universities); c. Letter of Recommendation from two (2) referees; d. Statement of Intent; e. A certified copy of Academic Transcript; i. Record of all the courses taken throughout the degree programme must be reflected in the academic transcripts; ii. Applicants must submit transcripts of their undergraduate studies; and iii. Applicants must submit an official document issued by the applicant’s alma mater describing the university’s grade system. If an applicant’s transcript does not include information on CGPA, marks or score percentile, the documents must be certified.
