Indonesia accepts Malaysian aid as indigenous groups sue Prabowo over Kalimantan wildfire response

Indonesia is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, prompting indigenous and civil-society groups in West Kalimantan to file a class-action lawsuit against President Prabowo Subianto over government negligence. As toxic transboundary haze blankets neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, President Prabowo has accepted Malaysian assistance, including aircraft and 52 firefighters, to help contain the blazes, which have already affected up to 896,000 hectares of land.

Indigenous lawsuit against Prabowo

• ▪The class-action lawsuit against Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was registered at the Pontianak court in West Kalimantan, with the first hearing scheduled for October 7, 2026.
• ▪A group of indigenous and civil-society organizations in West Kalimantan filed a class-action lawsuit against Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and other authorities over their handling of regional forest fires.
• ▪The plaintiffs in the West Kalimantan class-action lawsuit against President Prabowo Subianto include the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, Catholic Youth, Perkumpulan Laman Punyung Indonesia, and an individual named Sisilius Rami

Malaysian firefighting assistance accepted

• ▪In early September 2026, Japan deployed more than 300 Self-Defense Forces soldiers and three helicopters to West Kalimantan to assist Indonesia with wildfire containment efforts.
• ▪Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi met on September 18, 2026, on the outskirts of Jakarta to discuss Malaysia's offer of wildfire assistance for Kalimantan and preventive measures
• ▪Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto accepted Malaysia's offer to send a Bombardier CL-415MP aircraft, three helicopters, and 52 personnel to help fight wildfires in Kalimantan.

Transboundary haze impact

• ▪Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi scheduled a working visit to Jakarta from September 17 to September 20, 2026, to raise the issue of transboundary haze affecting Malaysia and Singapore
• ▪Wildfires in Borneo and Sumatra have blanketed parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in toxic, transboundary haze, creating unhealthy air conditions.

Wildfire severity statistics

• ▪The 2026 Indonesian wildfires have intensified due to climate change, forest degradation, slash-and-burn practices, and an El Nino climate phenomenon expected to be the strongest on record.
• ▪Indonesia is experiencing its most intense wildfires in 11 years, which Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni warned could continue until November 2026.
• ▪The Nusantara Atlas project estimated that nearly 300,000 hectares burned between January and July 2026, with the total affected area reaching nearly 896,000 hectares including August.
• ▪The Indonesian government reported that more than 202,000 hectares of land burned countrywide between January and July 2026.

Previous forest fire litigation

• ▪The Indonesian Supreme Court overturned a lower court victory for the 2016 wildfire plaintiffs by granting the government's petition for judicial review in 2022.
• ▪In 2016, seven Indonesian residents filed a lawsuit against then-President Joko Widodo and other officials over their handling of the 2015 forest fires.