Indonesia arrests 72 as forest fires spread haze to Malaysia
Indonesian police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting forest and peatland fires that have generated a hazardous haze cloud over parts of Southeast Asia, including neighbouring Malaysia.
The arrests were announced on Sunday (August 23, 2026) by Mohammad Irhamni, director of special crimes at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency. He said the suspects were being investigated in connection with 89 forest and land fire cases across five provinces on the island of Borneo and four on Sumatra.
Most of the suspects are accused of deliberately burning land to clear areas for plantations at lower cost. Investigators are also tracing financial records to determine whether companies financed or ordered the land clearing, signalling that the probe could expand beyond those already held.
“We will not stop at the perpetrators on the ground,” Mr. Irhamni said at a news conference in Jakarta. “We will determine who benefited from these activities and who was ultimately behind them.” The suspects face charges that carry penalties ranging from hefty fines to prison terms of up to 15 years.
The fires, driven by an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season, have produced dense smoke that has crossed into Malaysia, according to Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). Fire activity has increased in West, Central and South Kalimantan provinces on Borneo, where peatlands worsen the blazes and prolong the hazardous haze.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto flew on Saturday (August 22) to Central Kalimantan province, where more than 7,600 hectares have burned, to push authorities to bring the haze under control. He promised government resources, including helicopters and water pumps, and vowed to hold accountable any companies found to have contributed to the fires.
“I hope we can control this soon,” Mr. Prabowo said during the visit. “We have experienced worse forest and land fires in the past, and we were able to overcome them.”
Accompanying the President was Prasetyo Hadi, head of the State Secretariat. He said at least four companies in West Kalimantan province are under investigation for allegedly using fire to clear land. If proven to have intentionally set the fires, they could face sanctions, including revocation of their operating permits.
BNPB chief Suharyanto noted that fires appearing extinguished on the surface may still contain embers underneath, making sufficient rainfall crucial to rewet the peat and fully suppress the fires. Cloud-seeding resumed over Kalimantan on Sunday, with 30 helicopters for water-bombing and aerial patrol missions, and another 22 helicopters covering Sumatra.
The smoke has also blanketed parts of Borneo, the world's third-largest island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia administers about three-quarters of the island, where the Environment Ministry recorded more than 3,700 hot spots on Sunday. The western island of South Sumatra also battled fires, with more than 1,700 hot spots detected, reducing visibility to just 10 metres in some areas.
Malaysia has suffered severe smoke from the fires, with its eastern state of Sarawak among the hardest hit. One district recorded “very unhealthy” air quality on Friday, while eight others posted unhealthy readings, prompting the closure of nearly 600 schools and affecting about 200,000 students, the Sarawak government said.
Forest and land fires are a recurring problem in Indonesia, often straining relations with neighbours. Plantation owners and traditional farmers frequently start fires to clear land, a practice that becomes particularly hazardous during dry seasons. The current arrests mark a significant step in addressing the practice, with authorities indicating they will pursue those who finance or benefit from illegal land clearing.
