Students take to the streets in five Indonesian cities over forest fires and smog

On 20 October, students held protests in several Indonesian cities over the massive forest fires and the toxic smog that has been worsening the health of thousands of people for several weeks.

According to Channel NewsAsia, demonstrations took place in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Pekanbaru and Makassar.

The situation is worst in Sumatra and Kalimantan, where thick smoke has turned the sky bright orange. The fires have continued since the beginning of 2026: from January to June, 202,000 hectares of forest and peatland burned, and since then the fire may have destroyed at least another 600,000 hectares of vegetation.

According to Belarusian state media, citing the outlet Suaradesa, the student protests spread across several cities, including Jakarta, and coincided with the second anniversary of President Prabowo Subianto's coming to power. The forest fires, rising prices and a sharp deterioration of the economic situation are named as the main causes of the young people's discontent.

The Russian outlet rg.ru reports that after Kalimantan, smog and fires have engulfed Sumatra: the meteorological service has recorded more than a thousand hotspots. Because of the dangerous air, schools are closing and children are switching to distance learning.

According to the same reports, the participants of the actions demand that the forest fires be declared a national disaster, that the damaged ecosystems be restored, and that measures be taken against social inequality. Their other demands include fighting corruption, lowering the cost of education and protecting civil liberties.

The participants called on the authorities to pay attention to the environmental situation and to promptly resolve the accumulated social problems. According to pro-Russian outlets, they expressed dissatisfaction with the policy of the Subianto government and criticized the authorities' actions in connection with the environmental crisis, demanding more active measures against its consequences.

Berton Panjaitan, a representative of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, stated that more than 60,000 firefighters, including volunteers, have been deployed to fight the fires across the country. According to him, 49 aircraft were available for dropping water and cloud seeding, but some of them were periodically not used because of the smog. It is not yet known what steps the authorities will take to reduce the toxicity of the air.

Because of the toxic smog, the number of respiratory illnesses has risen sharply. According to Indonesia's Ministry of Health, more than 277,000 cases of acute respiratory infections caused by air pollution have been registered in Kalimantan.

According to reports in Telegram channels, the fire has already destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of vegetation, and in recent months the fires have intensified. The same channels claim that Indonesia currently accounts for about half of the world's emissions of combustion products.