Indonesia is facing its worst wildfire crisis in 11 years, with extensive areas of land destroyed by fires across Sumatra, Borneo and Papua. Meanwhile, Australia is reportedly set to assist Jakarta in its firefighting efforts by joining ongoing waterbombing operations. The move comes days after a helicopter crashed during a firefighting mission on Borneo, leaving one person dead and several others injured.
The fires and resulting haze have triggered more than 4,00,000 cases of acute respiratory infections across seven Indonesian provinces as of November 2, according to the health ministry figures, Reuters reported.
Authorities have stepped up containment measures, deploying aircraft to drop water, conducting cloud seeding operations and seeking international support, said Kristomei Sianturi, head of the country’s disaster mitigation agency in a statement.
Australia dispatches C-130 Hercules, Cessna Citation aircraft to support Indonesia
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said Australia has sent two aircraft to assist with its wildfire response, according to Reuters. The deployment, arranged by New South Wales’ Rural Fire Service, includes a C-130 Hercules and a Cessna Citation, both scheduled to take part in firefighting missions between November 6 and 12.
“The support includes a Large Air Tanker aircraft capable of dropping up to 15,000 litres of water per sortie, with an estimated capacity of up to six sorties per day,” said Australian Ambassador Roderick Bruce Brazier.
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Indonesia sees mass protest
Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, told the BBC that citizens are “fed up, angry and anxious,” putting pressure on governments to act.
This comes after hundreds of students took to the streets in October to raise their concerns regarding the rising costs of living, frequent forest fires and corruption.
The protests had taken place across cities such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Pekanbaru and Makassar.
In Jakarta, university students had gathered around the Tugu Tani monument (Heroes monument) to call for action on the Subianto government’s handling of forest fires and rising living costs. The fires, which are a frequent recurring in Indonesia, have generated toxic haze, disrupted flights, closed schools and raised public health concerns.
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The forest fires in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua were caused by a dry season amid El Niño, The Jakarta Post had reported. The haze also spread to neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Before these, Indonesia was also rocked by a major protest in August over combination of economic frustrations and public anger over high-level government policies. During these protests, hundreds were detained. Before that, nationwide protests also occurred in 2025 after the police killing of a motorcycle taxi driver. The clashes recorded last year also resulted in several people being killed.
(With inputs from agencies)
