Myanmar earthquake: thousands left to die by military junta

On 28 March, a devastating and massively destructive earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck Myanmar with its epicenter just 10 kilometres below the surface, near Mandalay, the country’s second largest city.

[Originally published in Burmese by The Struggle magazine]

The death toll from the earthquake has soared to more than five thousand. Several hundred people are still missing. We cannot know the exact figure as the official numbers released by the ruling military junta will be much lower than the real figure. Mandalay and the nearby town of Sagaing which sit along the Sagaing Fault – a major meeting point of the Indian and the Sunda tectonic plates – are now in ruins, littered with collapsed buildings, historic sites and temples. Fires also broke out in Mandalay immediately after the quake.

The power of this earthquake was demonstrated by the collapse of an unfinished high-rise building in Bangkok, which sat more than 1000 kilometres from the epicenter. The shallowness of the 1200 kilometre Sagaing fault, which cuts straight through Myanmar from North to South, explains the immense destruction of the Mandalay earthquake across the country.

However, the power of the earthquake alone is not enough to explain the high death toll and widespread destruction of infrastructure. As Lenin was fond of saying “life teaches”: the people of Myanmar have learned numerous times through bitter experience that the death tolls of natural disasters in the country are intensified by the ruling military regime. This was the case during Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which unnecessarily claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands. It was also the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, the response to which was mismanaged by the military regime of Min Aung Hliang.

Instead of launching a rescue effort to save the victims of the recent earthquake, the junta continued to conduct the ongoing civil war / Image: ddd uuu87577, Twitter

This time, instead of launching a rescue effort to save the victims of the recent earthquake, the junta continued to conduct the ongoing civil war, launching airstrikes and killing civilians even on the day of the earthquake itself. This may surprise outside observers, but it certainly does not surprise the oppressed people in Myanmar. This is why we must point the finger at the ruling military regime as the force most responsible for the massive loss of life following the earthquake.

It has been reported that the chief of the junta issued a rare call for international aid in response to the disaster. But, in reality, the regime made several attempts to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Myanmar. In one shocking case, regime soldiers shot at a convoy sent by the Chinese Red Cross into Shan State, not far from Mandalay. A spokesperson for the regime admitted to this but, as usual, gave nothing but hollow excuses.

Predictably, the military was completely absent from all rescue efforts. Worse than this, a layer of the military and their paramilitary thugs – namely the Pyusawhti militias – threatened and tried to prevent the voluntary rescue teams of civilians from rescuing the injured. The junta even enforced a curfew prohibiting rescue activities after 10 PM. Adding insult to injury, the military regime enforced a blackout, shutting down the internet and mobile networks, as well as all electricity, in the impacted regions.

The ruling military regime readily makes use of helicopters to kill civilians, but on not a single occasion have these been used to rescue the victims of natural disasters. The pitiless generals dared to complain that the rescue teams lacked protective gloves, when they themselves have spent huge amounts of money stockpiling weapons for mass murders.

To face a catastrophe like this, we need a well-functioning healthcare system that can respond quickly and effectively. Yet what have the Burmese military generals done? They have recklessly spent public funds on the military while allocating next to nothing for healthcare. And that’s not all. They have blacklisted, arrested, imprisoned and even killed healthcare workers, most recently with airstrikes in Sagaing region. Even before the earthquake, they shut down some hospitals and clinics that employed doctors and nurses who had been members of the CDM (Civil Disobedience Movement), which opposes the regime. With a healthcare system on the verge of collapse, the country could not be less prepared for an earthquake like this.

The responsibility of the military dictatorship does not just fall on the uniformed military generals. It also falls on their cronies, the big capitalists. They are all part of the ruling class. They are the enemies of the oppressed people as a whole, and they all deserve the blame for the recent disaster.

For example, the collapse of the Sky Villa condominium complex in Mandalay was not simply the product of the intensity of the earthquake. Was it the fault of the construction company? The architect? The bureaucrats who issued the construction permits?

From a class perspective, the answer is clear. In a capitalist system, the priority for capitalists is making profit. As a result, the system puts profit before lives. Thus, instead of building structures that can resist earthquakes, they focus on maximizing profits.

Commenting on the collapse of the Sky Villa complex, a local geologist stated, “No matter how good the quality of the building is, it won’t be able to withstand an earthquake like this.” If that were true, they shouldn’t have built a high-rise in such a location in the first place. They definitely should not have advertised the building with a guarantee that it was an “earthquake-resistant condo”. The government that allowed the construction of such a building also bears full responsibility for its collapse. Geologists warned of the danger several decades ago. The profit motive, not simply the earthquake, is fundamentally at fault.

Under this capitalist military dictatorship, it is as if they have planned for the maximum number of injuries and deaths / Image: Supanut Arunoprayote, Wikimedia Commons

Ultimately, the capitalist class and their state, which prioritises profit over everything, are the ones responsible. Military generals like Min Aung Hlaing are not only state officials but also prominent capitalists. They and their cronies are the ones who secured these business deals and made a fortune stealing and squandering millions on these dangerous public projects. This is why even two- or three-story university buildings and hospitals – hardly qualifying as high-rises – have collapsed and been destroyed by this earthquake. For the bosses and the generals, their profits matter more than the lives of patients, healthcare workers, students, and teachers. That is why they did not build anything to withstand earthquakes. And that is why so many people have unnecessarily lost their lives.

Naturally, it would be almost impossible to prevent such a massive earthquake from causing any injuries or deaths. But steps could have been taken in advance to minimise the casualties. Instead, under this capitalist military dictatorship, it is as if they have planned for the maximum number of injuries and deaths.

We cannot yet predict precisely when, where, or how strong an earthquake will be, but this does not mean we have to sit back and take whatever nature throws at us.

While we cannot stop an earthquake from happening, we can take preventive measures to ensure the least possible loss of life and injury. The technology and productive forces to do so already exist.

Yet these productive forces are owned by a minority as private property, and they exploit them however they please for their own profit. For the people of Burma, stricken with civil war, the most obvious example is this: an airplane can be used to save lives in times of disaster, but it can also be used as a weapon of murder by bloodthirsty military rulers.

If the capitalist system and the military dictatorship in Myanmar were overthrown, we could easily use the enormous resources that the junta wastes on civil war to protect ourselves from the devastating impacts of natural disasters, including earthquakes. That is why the fight to confront natural disasters is inherently linked to the class struggle to abolish private property.

Down with the military regime!

Lives before profits! Not profits before lives!