Conditions rapidly worsening for victims of Myanmar earthquake

Ben McGrath

A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Myanmar following the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake there on Friday. As of early Monday morning, the death toll had risen to 1,700, though this figure will certainly grow as rescue teams search the rubble and reach outlying areas. Recovery efforts are underway in neighboring Thailand, which was also affected.

Buildings in damaged by Myanmar earthquake, March 29, 2025 [Photo: UNICEF]

The earthquake struck along the Sagaing Fault near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar. Other major cities along the fault include Yangon and the capital of Naypyitaw. The earthquake as well as powerful aftershocks knocked down buildings and bridges while destroying roads, essentially flattening whole towns. There are also serious concerns about the state of Myanmar’s dams.

In addition to those killed, more than 3,400 have been injured while many more remain missing. The US Geological Survey estimates that the death toll could surpass 10,000.

Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the world and many of the buildings were not constructed to withstand earthquakes. Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey told the Associated Press, “When you have a large earthquake in an area where there are over a million people, many of them living in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous.”

These conditions are making it difficult for healthcare and rescue workers. Damage to roads, airports, and other infrastructure is causing delays in getting aid to those who need it. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”

OCHA further noted, “Thousands of people are spending the nights on the streets or open spaces due to the damage and destruction to homes or fearing further quakes.”

Han Zin, a resident of the city of Sagaing, located near the earthquake’s epicenter, told Reuters, “What we are seeing here is widespread destruction—many buildings have collapsed into the ground… We have received no aid, and there are no rescue workers in sight.” He added that much of the town is without electricity and that drinking water was running out.

Most of the efforts to provide aid and locate people trapped under buildings has been conducted by self-organized groups of residents who lack the necessary tools and equipment to dig people out of the rubble. Rescuers have also cited fears that many buildings are unstable and could collapse, preventing them from searching for survivors.

The destruction could potentially equal as much as 70 percent of Myanmar’s GDP, which stood at $US64.28 billion last year. Prior to the earthquake, the World Bank also predicted the economy would contract by 1 percent at the end of the fiscal year this month. Nyi Nyi Kyaw, a political scientist at the University of Bristol who is from Myanmar stated, “In essence, Myanmar is wholly unable to deal with the shock and its aftermath.”

Several countries have dispatched rescue teams, including China, Russia, India, and Thailand. Beijing sent 135 rescue personnel and necessary supplies while pledging $US13.8 million dollars.

The Trump administration in the US has pledged support, but a three-person team from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is not expected to arrive until Wednesday. Even as the earthquake was unfolding, Trump was gutting the organization. Last Friday, USAID employees in the process of preparing a response to the earthquake received emails notifying them that they had been fired.

Other natural disasters have also battered Myanmar in the past year, including Typhoon Yagi, impacting an estimated 2.4 million people as well as half of the country’s agricultural firms. This led to a sharp increase in food insecurity, which is now being exacerbated.

In Thailand, which also felt the effects of Friday’s earthquake, at least 18 people have been killed in Bangkok, including 10 workers constructing a high-rise building. An additional 78 people are missing and some people are believed to still be alive under the wreckage. Naruemol Thonglek, the wife of one of the missing workers, who is from Myanmar, said, “I was praying that that they had survived, but when I got here and saw the ruin… where could they be?” Other fatalities also occurred at construction sites.

Many people in Bangkok were unable to return to their homes, pending safety checks. The city government said it had received more than 9,500 reports of building damage. Residents shared pictures online of their homes with cracks in them. People were forced to sleep in parks, with the city providing portable toilets and drinking water.

The earthquake disaster could lead to serious political unrest, particularly in Myanmar where the ruling military junta has been in control since staging a coup in February 2021. This intensified armed conflict involving separatist armed militias, which has been ongoing in the country for decades. The junta, which is highly unpopular, holds a fragile grip on power and its inability to provide aid could trigger a mass anti-government movement.

Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing stated over the weekend, “All military and civilian hospitals, as well as healthcare workers, must work together in a coordinated and efficient manner to ensure effective medical response.”

However, the government has restricted aid from reaching many of those displaced by the civil war. The National Unity Government (NUG), a coalition of forces opposed to the junta, controls large parts of the Sagaing region.

The NUG stated Saturday night that there would be a partial two-week ceasefire in earthquake-affected regions, beginning the next day. It also stated that it would cooperate with the UN and aid organizations “to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps.”

The military has reportedly continued air strikes against opposition forces, including in the states of Kayin and Shan, both of which border the Mandalay region. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tom Andrews described the situation as “nothing short of incredible.” He stated, “Anyone who has influence on the military needs to step up the pressure and make it very clear that this is not acceptable.”

Over the last four years alone, more than 75,000 people have been killed and more than 3.5 million people have been displaced. Furthermore, throughout Myanmar, an estimated 19.9 million people, or slightly more than one-third of the population, were already in need of aid before the earthquake, with millions facing food insecurity.

Ecuador’s president meets Trump amid martial law elections and plans to deploy US troops

Cesar Uco & Andrea Lobo

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa meets with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, March 29, 2025 [Photo: @DanielNoboaOk]

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa held what his office portrayed as a “friendly and private” meeting Saturday with Donald Trump at the US President’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.

The meeting came in advance of an April 13 runoff election being held in Ecuador under conditions of martial law and amid preparations for the deployment of US troops to the country. Noboa, a far-right heir to a banana industry fortune, is polling behind Luisa González, a nominally “leftist” stand-in for former President Rafael Correa.

Facing an uphill contest amid an economic crisis and growing opposition to austerity policies imposed to meet IMF dictates and afford a buildup of the repressive state apparatus, Noboa’s “private” meeting with Trump should sound an alarm over a threat to use a state of exception and US military intervention to overturn an election and establish an openly fascistic dictatorship. 

Noboa has acted as a dictator since he was installed after defeating González in the 2023 vote. This followed the resignation of Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved Congress amid embezzlement charges and is exiled in the US. In open violation of the Ecuadorian constitution, Noboa has refused to abide by a requirement that an incumbent step down from the presidency until after the completion of an election.

The current state of exception has been renewed since January 3, 2025 in seven provinces and the capital of Quito, suspends the right to “inviolability of correspondence” and the inviolability of the home, allowing the police and armed forces to conduct warrantless inspections, raids, and searches. In addition, a 10:00 p.m.-to-5:00 a.m. curfew has been imposed in 22 municipalities.

However, despite the suspension of democratic rights and the presence of the Army in cities, crimes such as extortion and kidnapping continue to multiply. Meanwhile, thousands have been swept up in militarized repression. Popular outrage swept the country after four children disappeared after being picked up by a military patrol in the coastal city of Guayaquil at the end of last year, their burned and mutilated corpses found on Christmas Day.

Under the pretext of fighting gangs, Noboa has invited foreign troops to be stationed indefinitely in Ecuador and established a “strategic alliance“ with Erik Prince, the founder of the notorious private military contractor formerly known as Blackwater, to deploy a “mercenary army” to assist the Ecuadorian military.

Noboa has tried to downplay the Blackwater ties by saying that his main hope is for military support from the US, Europe, Brazil, and other regional countries. The involvement of South American militaries in Ecuador adds a new dimension to the continent’s class struggle.

Noboa suggests that far-right leaders like Milei in Argentina, Bolsonaro in Brazil, and right-wing parties in Colombia should unite against what they see as the common enemy: the international working class.

Ahead of the meeting with Trump, a top Ecuadorian official revealed to CNN plans for building a naval base in the coastal city of Manta for US military personnel. “These facilities are expected to house US soldiers,” the official said. 

The basing agreement was signed under the Biden administration, and new deals have been reached under Trump for a port and base associated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as well as significant aid. 

Manta was the site of the last US military base in the country, which was closed in 2009 under Correa.   

Recently, Noboa also approved the presence of a US military base in the Galapagos Islands, an environmentally sensitive treasure of biological diversity. 

Noboa has raised the value-added tax from 12 to 15 percent to pay for new prisons, drawing inspiration from the far-right policies of President Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. Bukele has reached an agreement with Trump to detain deportees from the US in a new maximum-security prison.

Among Noboa’s most notable affronts to democratic rights was the April 5, 2024 assault by Ecuadorian police and military forces on the Mexican embassy in Quito to capture former Vice President Jorge Glas, who was sentenced for corruption.

Replicating Trump’s attack on immigrant families, on March 11, Noboa signed a decree ending the immigration amnesty that allowed legal residency and visas for Venezuelans  who arrived without documents. Such measures will serve to terrorize the nearly half a million Venezuelans residing in Ecuador.

After the final debate on March 23, Luisa González, the Correista candidate of the Citizen Revolution Movement (MRC), widened her lead over the incumbent Noboa of the National Democratic Action (ADN) party—52.9 percent to 44.1 percent—with 7.4 percent undecided, according to the Argentine consulting firm TresPuntoZero.

In the first round of voting on February 9, Noboa and González were nearly tied, with Noboa receiving 44.17 percent and González 43.97 percent—less than a 20,000-vote difference. Indigenous leader Leónidas Iza came in third, securing about 540,000 votes, or 5.25 percent. 

On Sunday the Ecuadorian Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) led by Iza officially endorsed González following promises by the MRC to halt the geographic expansion of oil production and cut the regressive value-added tax back to 12 percent. 

Demonstrating the abject corruption of the indigenous bourgeois leadership, a section of which had previously endorsed Noboa, the CONAIE has accepted these promises at face value even after Correa repeatedly broke similar promises and used the military to crack down on indigenous protests.

The Trump regime is placing its weight behind Noboa as a more pliant option for furthering US imperialism’s drive to assert its hegemony in Latin America in preparation for war against China. The Asian giant has displaced the US as South America’s number one trading partner and foreign direct investor in what Washington had long regarded contemptuously as its “own backyard.” 

Support for Gonzalez stems from the rising discontent among the public regarding the austerity policies that Noboa and his predecessors—Moreno (2017-2021) and Lasso (2021-2023)—implemented during their time in office. After years of protests over social inequality and worsening poverty, Noboa took power amid a deepening economic crisis. 

By 2023, six million of the country’s millions of residents were expected to live on less than $3 a day, and nearly 90 percent of workers earned less than $780 a month.

In the face of these conditions, González offers populist rhetoric akin to that of the discredited “21st Century Socialism“ or “Pink Tide” used by the ruling class to maintain control over the working class and poor and negotiate better conditions with imperialism. This has been combined with her promises to strengthen the state apparatus and assurances to US imperialism of pro-business policies and security collaboration.

Reflecting the MNR’s class character, González has criticized Noboa from the right to defend the Ecuadorian Armed Forces, which have a long record of repressing every protest and strike by Ecuadorian workers. In a video clip on Radio Pichincha, González said: “He’s [Noboa] mocking the Ecuadorian public forces by wanting to bring in mercenaries and assassins when what we have here are trained individuals who know how to provide security but aren’t given the proper equipment.”

As hunger and poverty grow, Trump halts $500 million in deliveries to food banks

Samuel Davidson

Army volunteers carry groceries to cars at a food bank distribution by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

As hunger across America grows, the Trump administration has stopped food shipments to food banks, including milk, eggs, meat and other perishables that are already sitting in trucks.

At food banks throughout the country, deliveries of millions of dollars’ worth of food were abruptly stopped last week by the Trump administration.

“Too stupid for words” was how one Cleveland, Ohio-area podcaster described the decision to stop the delivery of 20 semi-truck trailers full of food that was set to be delivered to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Much of that food is now sitting and rotting on trucks.

The shipments of food are part of a $1 billion program run by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that buys fresh food from local farmers and provides it to local schools and food banks for distribution.

There is not a state or city unaffected by these cuts. Some of the headlines from throughout the country read:

• “Feds cancel $4.3M worth of poultry, cheese, eggs to Michigan food banks”

• “Trump administration halts millions of dollars in deliveries to Oregon food banks”

• “Trump administration’s cuts cancel food deliveries to Harvesters” (Kansas City)

• “Food bank in ‘crisis mode’ after federal cuts cancel food deliveries” (Orlando)

• “‘Too Stupid for Words’: Trump pulls back 20 semi-trucks of food from Cleveland’s food bank”

• “Delaware Food Bank loses nearly 1M meals after Trump administration ends food aid funding”

The list goes on.

“I come here once a month,” said Lori Scott, a young mother with two children who was in line at a food pantry near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where volunteers placed a large box of food into the trunk of her car.

Lori works as a caregiver, but between the low pay and the few hours, she says it is not enough to pay her bills and buy food.

“Grocery prices, rent, clothes, even water keep going up. Food stamps only last about two weeks, and this helps fill the gap. My children don’t go hungry, but sometimes I skip meals.”

Like millions of workers who are part of the uncounted unemployed, Lori only works part-time. They are not counted in the official unemployment rate as long as they work even a few hours each week. If they were, the true unemployment rate would be closer to 26 percent instead of the official 4 percent.

“I work hard taking care of elderly people in their homes, but we don’t get paid enough. We’re saving Medicare thousands of dollars a week by keeping people out of nursing homes and giving them a better quality of life. But I only get paid $15 an hour, and I work just four hours a day, four days a week.

“This is hard work. They depend on you to cook, prepare their meals, help them get dressed, and go to the bathroom. Some clients we even have to bathe.”

Poverty and hunger have been on the rise, especially in the last two years, as the expanded Child Tax Credit and other pandemic programs were cut during the Biden administration.

“These politicians don’t care about the people,” Lori told the WSWS. “I see what Trump is doing, and I don’t know how people are going to survive. You should be expanding programs for low-income people, not cutting them.”

In Cleveland, Ohio, the abrupt stopping of the USDA program meant that 20 tractor-trailer trucks, already loaded and on their way to deliver food to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, were pulled back.

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, in turn, delivers food to area food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and other organizations that provide food to those in need.

Milk, eggs, poultry, and other perishables were on the trucks and will now have to be thrown away.

“For the month of January, we served almost 600 people,” said Lauren Reese, who works at the Friendly Inn Settlement in Cleveland, Ohio. “That’s about an average.”

The Friendly Inn Settlement has been providing services for over 150 years. In addition to running a food bank, the organization provides a range of services, including youth programs, programs for young mothers and community-building events.

Reese lists a number of factors for the increase in need. “Prices of food have increased, that’s a big, big factor. Just having access because this area is a food desert.”

From December 2021 to December 2022, food prices increased a whopping 12 percent. For people in lower income brackets who spend a greater proportion of their income on food, rent, gas and other necessities, the increase is even greater.

Reese pointed out that the center serves as a primary provider of food for many people but has had to reduce the number of days they give out food from twice a week to just once. “We are unable to fully fulfill their needs because of our shortage of resources.”

She also cited a fact sheet published on their website that highlights living standards in the Central Cleveland neighborhood where the Friendly Inn Settlement is located, noting that 90 percent of the residents earn less than 200 percent of the poverty level. “The average household income is just $10,000 a year.”

In 2023, Cleveland had an overall poverty rate of 30.8 percent, with childhood poverty at a staggering 45.3 percent.

Nationally, hunger has been rapidly growing in the United States. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which advocates for children in the US, found in a recent report on childhood hunger that 19 percent of children—roughly 13.4 million—“lacked reliable access to adequate food in 2022.” They noted that this is a 50 percent increase since 2021 and the highest level in eight years.

These figures don’t capture the full crisis, and they were taken before the cutting of several programs that addressed poverty. “Pandemic relief measures, including the expanded Child Tax Credit, [have] expired. The loss of this support contributed to historic increases in poverty, leaving families with fewer resources for food,” the Foundation noted.

The most recent cuts made by the USDA under the Trump administration will add to an already intolerable situation for millions.

These cuts are just the beginning. The Trump administration under billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has pledged to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. This cannot be accomplished without deep cuts to food stamps, TANF, Medicaid and other social programs. As has already been shown, Democrats in Congress will capitulate to these deepening attacks.

Indonesian parliament expands military’s role in government

Owen Howell

The Indonesian government of President Prabowo Subianto oversaw the passing of amendments to the country’s armed forces law in parliament on March 20. The amendments allow active-duty military officers to serve in a greater number of government roles.

President Prabowo Subianto. October 20, 2024 [Photo: Rahmat, Public Relations of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia]

The 2004 TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) Law reduced the number of civilian posts available to the military, after the collapse of the Suharto military dictatorship in 1998. It originally permitted active military personnel to serve in ten government positions, mostly related to security, such as the Defence Ministry and the state intelligence agency.

The new revisions, which were adopted unanimously by parliament, expanded this to include five more institutions: the Attorney General’s Office, National Counterterrorism Agency, Maritime Security Agency, National Agency for Border Management, and National Disaster Mitigation Agency. According to the AFP news agency, serving officers can also take posts in a critical sixth institution: the Supreme Court.

Military personnel may be appointed to other areas of government, but must first retire from the military, as stated in the previous TNI Law. Additionally, the amendments raised retirement age by several years for most ranks, with four-star generals now able to serve until 63, up from 60.

The change is among the most significant actions taken by the Prabowo government since it came into office last October. The amendments were, however, a watered-down version of an earlier draft proposal, which would have allowed Prabowo the right to appoint serving officers anywhere in the government, according to a Reuters report.

The revisions were drafted largely behind closed doors and rushed through parliament in less than two months after Prabowo requested them. The drafting process consisted of a series of secret meetings involving Prabowo, the Defence Ministry, and the Defence and Security Commission, held at a luxury hotel near Jakarta’s parliament building. The bill was then approved by the Defence Commission and passed unanimously in a special plenary session of the House of Representatives.

The amendments immediately sparked protests, as hundreds of student activists camped outside parliament the night before the bill was passed. On the following day, the crowd grew to a thousand, with protesters holding banners reading “Against militarism and oligarchy!” and “The New Order [the name of the Suharto dictatorship] strikes back!” One student group present described the law as “democracy-killing.”

By revising the military law, Prabowo, a former general in the Suharto regime, is taking a step towards dictatorial rule, under conditions of a massive social crisis in Indonesia as well as an international political shift to the right by capitalist governments.

What is being revived is the total control of every aspect of society by the military apparatus that existed under Suharto, known as dwifungsi (dual function). Military officers held leading positions not only in government, but in the state-owned enterprises, banks, the media, cultural institutions and elsewhere.

Since his October inauguration, Prabowo has declared his first term will see a “greater political centrality and policy influence for the military-security apparatus.” On his very first day in office, he appointed his personal assistant Teddy Indra Wijaya, an active military officer, as cabinet secretary.

In blatant violation of the TNI Law, his cabinet is comprised of numerous serving military personnel in posts outside defence including transportation and agriculture. The cabinet includes retired military figures in leading roles, such as Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono, who was previously a first lieutenant in notorious special forces group Kopassus which carried out some of the bloodiest crimes of the Suharto regime. Prabowo himself was once one of its commanders.

Prabowo has begun to expand the military’s role to public affairs. He has appointed active officers to the national food agency Bulog. His flagship Free Meal Program—a populist measure aimed at feeding 83 million schoolchildren—receives logistical support from the army.

The amendments to the military law have been publicly defended by several government officials, on the grounds that they are necessary due to domestic and geopolitical “challenges.”

Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, another former Kopassus officer, told parliament in March: “The geopolitical changes and global military technology require the military to transform… to face conventional and non-conventional conflicts.” Meanwhile, Budi Djiwandono, deputy chief of the commission overseeing the revisions and Prabowo’s nephew, dismissed concerns that the law signified a return to dwifungsi.

Armed Forces Commander General Agus Subiyanto declared that the pre-existing military law was outdated. “Adjustments are necessary to tackle various issues in implementing the fundamental norms of state policy and political decisions,” he said.

Prabowo’s moves towards establishing military political dominance take place amid the growth of mass opposition to his policies, as well as intensifying geopolitical tensions as the United States prepares for war against China.

The revised military law was passed just weeks after the unveiling of the president’s austerity campaign, slashing up to $44 billion from the state budget, under the false name of “combatting inefficiency,” targeting education, health, and other vital social services. These measures provoked a widespread student protest movement across the archipelago, against the government’s austerity as well as the degradation of social conditions, rising cost of living, poverty, and unemployment.

However, attempts to expand the military’s role in Indonesian society predate Prabowo.

The 2004 TNI Law was an element of the Indonesian establishment’s program of reformasi, or “democratic reformation” after the Suharto junta fell in 1998, and was nominally aimed at containing the army’s influence. But reformasi was a farce from the beginning, with military figures retaining powerful positions and much of the dictatorship’s structure remained intact, behind the “democratic” façade of elections.

Prabowo, who was Suharto’s son-in-law, attempted to set himself up as the dictator’s successor and was one of the bloodiest figures of the regime. Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDIP (the party most associated with reformasi), rehabilitated Prabowo politically as early as 2009 when she chose him as her vice-presidential running mate.

The previous president Joko Widodo, the PDIP’s candidate, who was widely promoted as a “reformer,” accelerated the process. During his time in office, networks of Suharto-era generals and officers played an increasingly prominent role in the government.

Widodo frequently violated the TNI Law, appointing an active duty general to head the national disaster agency in 2019. In 2023, nearly 2,600 active-duty officers were serving in civilian roles, according to Imparsial (Indonesian Human Rights Monitor). He effectively gave Prabowo his blessing in last year’s election when his son ran as vice-president on Prabowo’s ticket.

In the quarter century since the end of Suharto’s rule, the entire political establishment has covered up the crimes of the Indonesian military while paying lip service to democracy. It has now unanimously supported the expansion of the military’s role in government.

Reports reveal youth homelessness crisis in Australia

Jason Quill & Eric Ludlow

Recent reports have revealed a youth homelessness crisis in Australia amid broader social hardship fueled by the soaring cost of living, job insecurity and the worst housing affordability on record.

The Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report 2023–24 (SHSAR), published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in December, provides an overview of the number of Australians who access government support for homelessness. In 2023–24, some 280,078 people sought assistance from homelessness services. This figure is a 2.3 percent increase from the 273,648 who sought support in 2022–23. 

Homeless people’s belongings, Chatswood, Sydney, November 2021 [Photo by Sardaka via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0]

Nearly 115,000 of those who were provided support were under the age of 25. A total of 38,631 young people aged 15–24 who made homelessness service requests were in the most vulnerable cohort, appearing without family support or stable housing, or “presenting alone.”

However, a lack of services means that tens of thousands more are going without support which ranges from general support and assistance to immediate transitional accommodation.

According to the AIHW data, more than 75,000 (up from nearly 72,000 in 2021–22) people who made requests for homelessness services went unassisted. Of those who were turned away, 34,366—about 46 percent—were under the age of 25.

Couch-surfing now accounts for a significant portion of youth homelessness, with thousands of young people forced to rely on temporary stays with friends or acquaintances, further entrenching their vulnerability. 

Speaking to SBS News, a 19-year-old named Chelsea described her experience: “I called everywhere for help, but there were just no places. I was told I’d have to sleep in my car, but I don’t even have a car.” Chelsea’s experience is reflective of young people across the country who have been abandoned by a system that prioritises landlords, developers and military expansion over fundamental social needs.

A separate analysis by Australian charity the Foyer Foundation highlights the youth homelessness “hotspots” around the country.

The area with the highest youth homelessness according to the Foyer Foundation is Latrobe-Gippsland in regional Victoria. The region has more than 1,000 young people experiencing homelessness. Youth unemployment in Latrobe-Gippsland is almost 14 percent while school completion rates are below the national average.

The Latrobe Valley is a case study for the social devastation wrought by mass redundancies with the corporate-driven destruction of manufacturing and other industries in Australia, overseen by successive Labor and Liberal-National Coalition governments at state and federal level. These massive job cuts began in the 1980s and ’90s under the Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating with the full support of the trade union bureaucracies.

The demolition of energy production, logging, timber milling and paper manufacturing in the region has led to widespread poverty, unemployment and social problems like high levels of drug use.

Other major regional centres in the top 20 include Illawarra (four) in New South Wales (NSW), Ballarat (number eight) in Victoria, Hunter Valley (13) in NSW, and Cairns (16) and Townsville (17) in Queensland. Like the Latrobe Valley, these regions have experienced massive social devastation over decades brought on by the axing of thousands of jobs.

In the Hunter Valley, the destruction of coal mining in particular has seen thousands of job losses. Thousands of steelworkers, miners, dockers and transport logistics workers have also been sacked in the Illawarra in recent decades.

In the top 10 youth homelessness “hotspots” are outback regions of the Northern Territory (number two), northern Western Australia (five) and Queensland (nine) where the vast majority of homeless youth are indigenous.

These outback areas have little to no basic social infrastructure such as healthcare and education. This is a continuation of the protracted oppression of Australia’s Aboriginal people who comprise the most vulnerable section of the working class. Young indigenous people are regularly targeted by police and sent to juvenile detention centres and even adult prisons.

Working-class areas of major cities are also in the top 20 youth homelessness hotspots.

The western suburbs of Melbourne—Australia’s largest city—are 10th on the list. Melbourne’s west has a high population of immigrants, including those from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The industrial north of Adelaide, the South Australian capital, is number 11 on the list and Sydney’s outer west and Blue Mountains region sit at number 12.

Geelong, the second largest city in Victoria after Melbourne, rounds out the list of youth homelessness hotspots at number 20.

The wholesale assault on manufacturing and other industries has led to an overall casualisation of the workforce, particularly among younger workers. With precarious work on the rise, many young people are unable to afford rent, food or essential services.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 10 percent of Australians aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in January 2025. ABS data also shows that youth underemployment—struggling to get more work—was at 14.1 percent in December 2024.

While young people are about twice as likely to experience homelessness than the rest of the population, only 2.9 percent of public housing tenancies in 2021 were allocated to 15–24-year-olds in the state of Victoria. This is a sharp expression of the broader need to increase state assistance for housing, yet the response of governments nationally has been to destroy the last vestiges of public housing which was won by workers in the post-World War II period.

The Victorian Labor state government, under Premier Jacinta Allan, is leading the most aggressive attack on public housing in decades.

Plans are underway to demolish 44 public housing estates, including the Flemington and North Melbourne towers, displacing 6,600 residents. These demolitions have nothing to do with improving housing conditions as the government claims. Instead, they are aimed at clearing prime inner-city land for private developers, with the vast majority of replacement housing designated for the private market rather than social housing.

In New South Wales, the state Labor government’s demolition program is almost the same. There, public housing in the inner-Sydney suburb of Waterloo is being targeted, leaving 3,000 residents without a home. Similar demolitions and sell-offs are taking place in South Australia and Western Australia.

Meanwhile, the Labor federal government of Anthony Albanese has been forced to admit that virtually no new homes have been built under its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. The fund was promoted as part of the Labor party’s election pitch at the 2022 election.

Labor says the fund’s aim is to build 30,000–55,000 “social and affordable” homes over five years. This is a mere speck compared to the estimated shortfall of 600,000 affordable dwellings nationally.

As with the promotion of social housing in favour of government-owned public housing, such housing policies are primarily pitched as a potential goldmine for property developers.

The attack on public housing is part of a decades-long and accelerating assault on social spending including slashes to health and education.

South Korea experiences worst-ever wildfires

Ben McGrath

Massive wildfires tore through southeastern South Korean for 10 days at the end of March and were finally extinguished on Sunday. The fires have been described as the worst in the country’s history, killing 30 people and destroying upwards of 48,000 hectares of land.

Houses burnt-out by wildfires in Andong, South Korea, Friday, March 28, 2025. [AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon]

The blazes began in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province on March 21. Over the next two days, there were 30 individual wildfires around the country. Separate fires broke out in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province. It was this fire that quickly spread east across the region to other nearby cities and counties, including Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok.

The Uiseong fire, the largest of the blazes burning some 45,157 hectares, had supposedly been extinguished on Friday but reignited Saturday evening and was brought under control again on Sunday. The Sancheong fire was also contained on Sunday.

Among the fatalities, 26 died in the Uiseong fires while four were killed in the Sancheong fire. An additional 45 people were injured. Around 37,000 people were forced to evacuate, many of them elderly, but received little or no help from local governments. Several people died after being caught in their cars while attempting to flee.

A resident of Cheongsong in his 60s with the family name Kim stated that there was “no guidance (by the authorities) as to which direction was safe or dangerous” while evacuating, according to Yonhap News. “They just told us to evacuate quickly, so I just ran outside—but it was frustrating that there were no clear or proactive instructions.”

Evacuees also reported receiving conflicting information as they attempted to reach safety. Messages alerting people to evacuate were sent too late or did not inform people of the location of evacuation centers. In one example, the Yeongdeok County government called for people to evacuate to the nearby towns of Ganggu or Namjeong, only to have the wildfires reach both within 30 minutes. Similar examples of confusion and conflicting information have been reported in other counties and towns.

Strong winds, dry conditions and rough terrain helped to spread the fires and made them more difficult to extinguish. An estimated 5,000 buildings including homes, factories and agricultural facilities were destroyed in the fires. Historical sites were also destroyed, including the Goun Temple in Uiseong, which had been built in 681 during the Unified Silla Period (668-935). Artifacts in the temple, however, were relocated. Houses and structures preserved from the Joseon Period (1392-1910) were also destroyed in the fires.

Police, firefighters and other related authorities began a joint investigation into the causes of the fires on Monday. At present, a 56-year-old has been accused of starting the fire that began at Uiseong as he tended to his grandparents’ graves on a hillside. Media reports suggest that he attempted to clear branches from the graves by burning them. Embers spread, igniting the blaze. He has been charged without detention and has denied the allegations.

Acting President Han Duck-soo on March 26 declared, “The record for worst-ever wildfire is being rewritten.” He continued, “We have been confronting the worst ever wildfires by mobilizing all available personnel and equipment but the situation is out of the ordinary.”

Han recently resumed his role as acting president after the Constitutional Court rejected his impeachment. He serves in this position until the court rules on whether or not to remove President Yoon Suk-yeol from office after he was impeached for his failed attempt to impose martial law in December.

Wildfires are not uncommon in South Korea. Huge wildfires also took place in North Gyeongsang Province as well as Gangwon Province in 2022. However, it is clear that the government was unprepared to deal with the current disaster.

Lee Cheol-u and Park Wan-su, the governors of North and South Gyeongsang Provinces respectively, both stated that firefighters lacked the necessary equipment and support to react quickly to the fires.

Lee stated, “We need to completely change the system for responding to wildfires. We need equipment that can put out fires early on with at least tens of thousands of liters of water, such as mobilizing transport aircraft like in other countries, and helicopters or firefighting equipment that can fly at night.”

Money that could be spent on preparing for natural disasters is being spent on preparations for war. Both governors are members of the right-wing People Power Party, which along with the Democratic Party, has backed the US-led war drive against China, funneling huge amounts of money into these military preparations. Last year, South Korea spent 59.42 trillion won ($US40.37 billion) on its military, or 2.8 percent of its GDP. This percentage is higher than most countries in the region. Seoul plans to spend 61.59 trillion won ($US41.84 billion) this year.

At the same time, wildfires in South Korea and around the world are not simply the result of mistakes or the lack of equipment, but the criminal failure of capitalist governments to take the necessary steps to halt climate change. Extreme wildfire activity around the globe has more than doubled over the past two decades, with northern and temperate forest regions, which includes South Korea, being particularly affected.

The Korea Meteorological Administration reported in January that the yearly average temperature in 2024 was 14.5 degrees Celsius, or two degrees higher than the norm. This was the hottest since recordkeeping began 113 years ago. The previous record high was 13.7 degrees set in 2023. In addition, during the wildfires themselves, the temperatures in South Korea were 4.5 degrees to 10 degrees higher than the 1990-2020 average, according to Climate Central which conducts research on climate change.

Dry conditions and higher temperatures mean wildfire seasons are also lasting longer, exacerbating the conditions that worsen wildfires in countries like South Korea and Japan, which recently experienced its own worst wildfire in 50 years.

Last year was also the hottest year on record globally, with the UN World Meteorological Organization stating in January that temperatures had risen 1.55 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. This surpassed the 1.5-degree level that governments had agreed to keep temperatures below in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The reality is that this supposed limit, itself inadequate to protect the environment, is being ignored as the major capitalist powers responsible for climate change base their policies on the profit interests of big business, not science and human need.

Russia says terms of US-proposed peace deal inadequate

Andrea Peters

Following comments on Sunday by US President Donald Trump that he is “angry” and “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and could impose tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy resources, Kremlin Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov stated that Moscow thus far cannot accept Washington’s proposals for a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. Indicating that the White House’s current terms fail to recognize the country’s basic interests, Rybakov declared in an interview excerpt published on Tuesday, “There’s no place [in the US plans] for our main demand today, which is resolving problems related to the root causes of this conflict.”

The “root causes” to which he refers are Western threats to overthrow the government in Moscow and break apart the country. For decades, Washington and its allies have, in addition to openly supporting regime-change in Moscow, worked to expand NATO up to Russia’s border and install rabidly anti-Russian regimes in neighboring countries. The Kremlin, which launched the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in an attempt to block Ukraine’s entry into NATO, force Western recognition of Moscow’s control over Crimea and the Donbass and bring about a more friendly government in Kiev, cannot accept terms that do not, however illusory and fleeting, provide security guarantees and roll back Western sanctions. The latter, while failing to bring about the collapse of the Russian economy, have inflicted serious damage for which Moscow has no long-term solution.

The International Criminal Court said Friday, March 17, 2023 it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine. [AP Photo/Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP]

Last week’s “Black Sea Initiative”—a ceasefire announced between Russia and Ukraine that would halt attacks on each other’s military and commercial ships in the body of water—is already stalled. The European powers, led by France, stated Thursday that the Kremlin’s terms, which include an end to sanctions on Russian agriculture and its agricultural banking industry, are a non-starter. On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russia of “playing games and not really wanting peace.”

The following day, Germany announced that, for the first time since World War II, it is permanently deploying troops to Lithuania, situated on Russia’s western border. The unit will be fully operational by 2027.

The same day, the Kremlin announced that its spring conscription, one of two annual military call-ups that happen each year, will bring 160,000 new recruits into the armed forces, the largest number since 2011.

In an indication of the conflicts emerging on the world stage as the Trump administration erupts in an orgy of militarist violence and threats, Russia’s deputy foreign minister also warned this week against the US president’s promise to bomb Iran if it does not agree to a nuclear deal. This would have “catastrophic consequences,” the Kremlin representative declared.

Despite the ongoing tensions, the Russian ruling class is hoping that a negotiated settlement with the United States over the war in Ukraine will give it some relief. Saddled with massive military-industrial expenditures and burdened by international sanctions, Moscow is confronting mounting fiscal problems.

On Monday, the country’s treasury announced that in January and February of this year, budget expenditures exceeded revenues by 3.841 trillion rubles ($45.5 billion). For the first month of the year, outflows were about one and a half times that which was planned. While the Ministry of Finance insists that the gap is smaller, it too has established that the Kremlin is spending far more than it is taking in.

There are three primary causes. First, Russia is oil-dependent and the price per barrel that it is earning from its sales is too low, in part because trade partners such as China and India have secured special discounts due to the fact that the country cannot sell its resources on the global market. Second, Russia’s budget calculations assumed a weak ruble, with the hope that revenues from foreign-denominated oil sales would be transformed into large amounts of its national currency and thus cover the treasury’s outlays. The recent strengthening of the ruble, which is expected to continue, has blown up these calculations.

And, above all, Moscow has massively increased spending on the military and national security. In 2024, the Putin administration announced a 70 percent increase in these expenditures, which have now climbed to about 6 percent of the country’s GDP, an amount unprecedented in the post-Soviet period.

While these outlays are crippling the budget, they have been key to keeping the economy afloat over the last three years. After suffering a significant decline in 2022, Russia returned to growth in 2023 and 2024, overwhelmingly as a result of state expenditures on the military-industrial complex.

The consequence has been the further accumulation of wealth by Russia’s super-rich. Forbes just announced that Russia added 21 people last year to its list of billionaires, of which there are now 146. Their total wealth, estimated at $625.5 billion, increased by $72 billion over the course of 2024. In short, the Kremlin has ensured that the war in Ukraine has, despite all the damage inflicted by Western sanctions, secured and expanded the ranks of Russia’s oligarchy.

At the other end of society, according to a March 20 article in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, more than one-third of Russia’s workers are employed in low-paying, low-productivity work. While there is a severe deficit of skilled and educated labor in the country, which economists cite as a major factor holding back further growth, much of the population does not have access to the training and education necessary to move up.

As an analyst from the Russian Academy of Sciences cited in Nezavisimaya Gazeta noted, the “cheapness” of their work from the standpoint of employers acts as a lag on the country’s overall economic modernization, as there is little point in enterprises making major investments to boost productivity if there is a large pool of low-paid people available to employ.

The Russian government places much emphasis on economists’ calculations that real incomes have on average been rising, by 18 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to some estimates. But this fact does not necessarily translate into improvements in everyday life for tens of millions of people. First of all, many do not experience “the average.” And beyond that, for those making a pittance, 20 percent more of that pittance is hardly a major boon to one’s personal finances.

Analysts at the Russian real estate firm TsIAN, for instance, recently estimated that residents of cities with a population over 1 million expend over one-third of their monthly income on housing. Depending on where one lives, this leaves between 37,000 and 76,000 rubles a month in income for other things—that is, between $435 and $899. Notably, this is 2.4 to 3.3 times the country’s “minimum income,” which says not so much about ordinary Russians’ well-being as it does about the absurdity of official calculations regarding what it means to be poor.

Inflation, which ran at about 10 percent in February, is constantly chipping away at workers’ earnings. Currently, a conflict has emerged within the Russian elite over the Central Bank’s decision to keep interest rates high in an effort to bring down inflation, as this makes borrowing more expensive for business, undermining expansion.

A March 27 article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta took note of the fundamental socioeconomic problem the government faces as it attempts to balance between economic growth, which appears to be slowing, and mass anger over constant price rises.

“The inflation dilemma is getting tougher: either the population starts paying for the phenomenal economic growth at a certain point due to inflation, which will bite off more and more of their income, or with a fierce fight against inflation, this phenomenal growth will soon come to naught,” noted Anastasia Bashkatova.

Estonia Government Scholarships 2025

Application Deadline:

The application period for Summer and Winter School Scholarships and Researcher & Academic Staff Grants is March 17th, 2025 – April 16th, 2025 (23:59 Estonian time).
The application period for degree and exchange study scholarships will be announced in May 2025.

Tell Me About The Award:

The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, in collaboration with the Education and Youth Board, offers scholarships to international students, researchers, and academic staff through the Estonian Scholarship Programme. These scholarships are based on bilateral agreements between Estonia and other countries.

Which Fields are Eligible?

• For Degree and Exchange Studies: Master’s and PhD studies in all fields. Bachelor’s scholarships are available only for Estonian language and culture.
• For Summer and Winter Schools: Courses cover Estonian language & culture, IT, media, international relations, synthetic biology, self-driving cars, and more.
• For Researchers & Academic Staff: Fields vary based on research and teaching opportunities at Estonian institutions.

Type:

• Fully Funded & Partially Funded Scholarships
• Grants for Researchers and Academic Staff

Who can Apply?

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students from eligible countries (must have completed at least one year of study).
• Foreign researchers and academic staff with an academic position at a non-Estonian institution.

How are Applicants Selected?

Applicants are evaluated based on:

• Academic merit and motivation
• Relevance of study/research to Estonia
• Potential for academic collaboration
• Pre-registration confirmation (for summer/winter school applicants)

Where will the Award be Taken?

At Estonian universities and research institutions. Some summer and winter school courses are available online.

How Many Awards?

The number of scholarships is limited and highly competitive. Historically, only 10% of applicants receive the award.

What is the Benefit of the Award?

• Summer & Winter School Scholarships: Covers course fees up to €700 and accommodation up to €25 per night (max. 4 weeks).
• Degree and Exchange Scholarships: Financial support for studies in Estonia.
• Grants for Researchers & Academic Staff: Funding for research, teaching, and academic collaboration.

How Long Will the Award Last?

• Summer/Winter Schools: 1–4 weeks
• Degree and Exchange Studies: One academic year (with potential renewal)
• Researchers & Academic Staff Grants: Varies based on research project duration

How to Apply:

1. Prepare your documents, including the completed application form, motivation letter, proof of enrollment/employment, and course registration confirmation (if applicable).
2. Submit your application via email to rvo.dokumendid@harno.ee (in Word format, no signature required).
3. Results will be announced in June 2025 for Summer/Winter Schools and Research Grants.

Visit the Award Webpage for Details:

Estonian Scholarships Official Website