Hundreds of students protested late on Friday in Palangkaraya, the capital of Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island, demanding the government do more to tackle a wildfire crisis that has shrouded their city and the wider region in toxic haze for months, AFP reported on Saturday. Many demonstrators wore surgical masks and gathered under an eerily orange sky with severely reduced visibility outside the governor's office, waving banners urging authorities to declare a national emergency to free up more aid.

Source: AFP via Malay Mail / Bangsar, Oct 24, 2026

"We call upon the Central Kalimantan provincial government to state clearly that it is unable to mitigate this disaster, so that the situation may be officially designated a national disaster," protest leader Yuyun Sanjaya told the crowd, AFP reported. "How is it possible that such thick, dense smoke is being inhaled by helpless elderly people and newborn infants, and the government simply lets it happen?" The demonstrators sang the patriotic song Indonesia Pusaka and engaged in light skirmishes with police; no injuries or arrests were reported, and as night fell the protesters cleared up their trash before dispersing peacefully, AFP said.

Source: AFP via Malay Mail / Bangsar, Oct 24, 2026

The haze has sickened hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia and reached as far as Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor, AFP reported, adding that diplomatic objections from neighbouring countries and sporadic anti-government protests at home have accompanied the crisis. Separately, Indonesia's Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced Rp240 billion (yaani about US$14.4 million) in assistance for West Kalimantan's fire response after a coordination meeting in Ketapang on Friday, with personnel from the military, police and disaster agencies to be deployed to priority hotspots, The Kabar News reported.

Source: The Kabar News, Oct 24, 2026