Home Affairs Minister Tito: 2025 Sumatra Disaster the Most Extensive Since Indonesia's Independence

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has revealed the massive impact of the floods and landslides that struck the island of Sumatra at the end of 2025. The disaster hit three provinces: Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. As Chairman of the Sumatra Post-Disaster Recovery Task Force, Tito assessed that the disaster was the most extensive he has encountered during his career in government and the police force. He explained that the floods and landslides in the three provinces forced millions of residents to flee after losing their homes. “So this is the picture at the time of the disaster, and looking at this data, I honestly feel this is one of the most extensive disasters in Indonesia. Let us look at the data; the displacement of affected people who moved due to this disaster totals 2,107,941 people. Imagine, millions, that is half the population of Singapore,” Tito said at the Government Communication Agency office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, 5 August 2026. According to Tito, it was not only the enormous number of refugees, but the vast area affected also posed a distinct challenge in handling the disaster. He stated that three provinces and 53 regencies or cities were affected simultaneously, a condition he believes has almost never occurred since Indonesia’s independence. “The number of provinces is three; it is rare for a disaster to affect three provinces. The number of affected regencies and cities is 53, this is not trivial. Have we ever experienced 53 regencies and cities affected in a single disaster? It seems in the modern era, there has been almost none since Indonesia’s independence,” he stressed. Tito then compared the event to various disasters he had handled during his tenure in the police force and as Home Affairs Minister. He said the Sumatra disaster had a far wider scope than the earthquake, tsunami, and landslides in Palu or the disaster in Lombok that he had previously managed. “For me personally, as a former police officer who has served as a district police chief, regional police chief, national police chief, and now Home Affairs Minister, honestly in my career I have never experienced a disaster event this extensive. As National Police Chief, I handled the earthquake, landslides, and tsunami in Palu, which affected one city. I also handled the one in Lombok at that time together with other elements, but it was not as extensive as this,” he said.