Another Country Hit by Forest Fires Closes Schools for Three Days
Timor-Leste began closing schools for three days on Thursday (15 October 2026), as thick haze blanketed the country because of forest and land fires in Indonesia.
The Timor-Leste government said the emergency measure was necessary. It also urged families to keep children indoors and advised residents to wear masks whenever they had to go outside.
“This is to protect the health of students, teachers and other members of the education community, given current air-quality conditions,” a government representative said.
Residents welcomed the decision, although they said pollution had been much worse earlier in the week. Sonya da Costa Soares, a 30-year-old midwife, described the alarming conditions.
“Recently, pollution in Dili was very bad. We couldn’t see the sun; the pollution was thick,” she said. “This decision is very important so that children are not put in danger.”
Felicidade Alves dos Santos Martins, whose daughter Febrianti was sent home from secondary school, also stressed how poor the air quality had become. She said the pollution could make her ill.
“Smoke from the fires has covered all of Dili and the mountains. This pollution is very dangerous; it can make us sick,” she said.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Vitaliano da Costa Calapes, a student at Santo Ignatius Loyola College, described how he was preparing amid the haze. He said he was studying at home ahead of his final examinations.
“We’re staying at home, but we’re continuing to study… We have final exams,” Calapes said. “We believe there won’t be any pollution in the coming days and that school will return to normal; that is what we hope.”
Indonesia regularly faces forest and land fires during the dry season. This year’s fires have been particularly severe because a strong El Niño has brought extreme drought.
The fires have scorched hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and plantations in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. The disaster has also caused haze in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.