Malaysia and Brunei Bring Indonesia's Haze Problem to ASEAN

Malaysia and Brunei have agreed to bring the issue of transboundary haze caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia to the ASEAN level. Amid this move, Indonesia has granted Malaysia permission to conduct weather modification operations, or cloud seeding, in Indonesian airspace to help address the haze.

The agreement between Malaysia and Brunei was reached during the annual consultation between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei in Bandar Seri Begawan on Saturday (22/8/2026). “We both agreed to use the ASEAN mechanism as the best option. We have asked Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan to handle this issue,” Anwar said at a press conference after the meeting, as quoted by The Star on Tuesday (25/8/2026).

A day earlier, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Kuala Lumpur would send an official letter to the ASEAN Secretariat through Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, Arthur Joseph Kurup, said Indonesia had granted permission for Malaysian agencies to enter Indonesian airspace to conduct cloud seeding. The operation is being prepared to help address the haze in border areas.

Malaysia’s national disaster management agency and the Malaysian Meteorological Department are preparing a schedule for weather modification operations at several border locations. The implementation will be coordinated with the Indonesian military.

Malaysia is also ready to assist Indonesia in extinguishing fires. Kurup said any request for assistance from Indonesia would be brought to the Malaysian cabinet for follow-up.

Malaysia and Indonesia will also strengthen firefighting and prevention efforts ahead of several national holidays in the coming weeks, including the Malaysia Day celebrations in Sarawak on 16 September.

Sarawak is the Malaysian region most affected by the haze because it directly borders Kalimantan. On Monday, six districts in Sarawak recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings. Similar conditions occurred in eight other districts across four states in Peninsular Malaysia.