Gen Z Angered by Indonesia Wildfires, Protests Against Government Response Spread Nationwide

Spread to More Than Six Cities
Calls for State of National Disaster Emergency, Crackdown on Arson
More Than 330,000 Acute Respiratory Illness Cases
Government Rejects Declaring Emergency

As Indonesia faces its worst wildfires in 11 years, protests by Gen Z against the government’s response are spreading across the country.

According to major foreign news outlets on October 24, around 500 people gathered the previous day outside the governor’s office in Palangka Raya, the capital of Central Kalimantan Province on the island of Borneo, to demand measures to address the damage caused by wildfires and haze. Protests involving hundreds of people were also held in other areas, including South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces.

AP-Yonhap News

The protesters called on the government to declare a state of national disaster emergency and crack down on the use of fire to clear farmland. Vincent Thomas, a university student who joined a protest in Bandung, West Java Province, urged the government to declare an emergency, saying, “Officials responsible must be held accountable.” On October 20, hundreds of university students also criticized the government’s response to the wildfires in the capital, Jakarta.

Wildfires on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra have spread amid dry weather caused by El Niño this year, worsening the damage. According to Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, more than 333,470 people in seven provinces affected by wildfire haze have suffered from acute respiratory illnesses since mid-August. The fires are considered the most severe since 2015.

The government of Prabowo Subianto has increased the number of personnel fighting the wildfires from about 44,000 in mid-September to more than 69,000 now. It has also deployed around 50 aircraft for water bombing and cloud seeding operations. However, the government has rejected calls to declare a state of national disaster emergency, saying its current response capacity is sufficient.

In 2025, Indonesia’s Gen Z also held large-scale protests over issues including housing allowances for members of parliament. As tensions over the government’s response to the wildfires continue, attention is focused on whether opposition among young people will grow.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.