Indonesia faces widespread protests over raging wildfires and toxic smog

Demonstrators took to the streets across multiple Indonesian cities on Tuesday, voicing frustration over widespread wildfires and thick haze that have caused respiratory illnesses for thousands of people across Southeast Asia.

The rallies coincided with the second anniversary of President Prabowo Subianto taking office. Student-led crowds gathered in the capital, Jakarta, alongside protests in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Pekanbaru on Sumatra, and Makassar on South Sulawesi. Demonstrators accused authorities of incompetence and corruption, highlighting the administration's struggle to control fires that have consumed extensive areas of Sumatra and Borneo since July.

In Jakarta, protesters displayed signs demanding immediate action to put out the blazes and asserting their right to clean air. Prior to the student demonstrations, police detained six Greenpeace activists after they hung banners from a major monument at the Bundaran HI roundabout, according to an NGO campaigner.

The environmental crisis has taken a heavy toll on everyday life in affected regions. In the Borneo city of Palangkaraya, local traders reported sharp drops in business alongside rising costs of living. Residents described prolonged coughing, physical fatigue, and smoke seeping directly into their homes, prompting calls for a national state of emergency.

According to Berton Panjaitan, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, more than 60,000 personnel—including volunteer crews—have been mobilized nationwide to extinguish the fires. Aircraft have been assigned to conduct water-bombing operations and cloud-seeding missions, although poor visibility caused by dense smoke has periodically kept flights grounded.

Data from wildfire tracking monitor Nusantara Atlas indicated that blazes consumed over 1.9 million hectares across the country during the first nine months of the year. While Indonesia regularly faces fires during its annual dry period, conditions have been intensified this year by a powerful El Nino weather pattern, pushing hazardous air pollution into neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.