Malaysian Activists Protest in Front of Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Over Forest Fire Haze

A number of Malaysian environmental activists held a demonstration in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday (04/09). They are urging Indonesia to disclose the identities of companies holding land concessions, including those from Malaysia, which are linked to recent forest and land fires (karhutla) in Indonesian territories.

The demonstration was organised by environmental activists from Greenpeace Malaysia and the People’s Advocacy Group (RA). In photographs obtained by BBC Indonesia, dozens of activists were seen carrying banners and posters while delivering speeches.

The protest comes as haze caused by forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra has spread to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Residents in these countries have begun expressing distress and concern, noting that the haze has pushed Air Pollution Index levels into the ‘very unhealthy’ category.

“We are making this appeal on behalf of millions of Malaysians whose health, livelihoods, and daily lives are affected every year by transboundary haze pollution originating from land and forest fires in Indonesia,” stated a press release from Greenpeace Malaysia received by BBC Indonesia on Friday (04/09).

They also requested that the Indonesian government provide proof regarding the alleged involvement of certain plantation companies owned by Malaysian or Singaporean parties in the recent fires. “We welcome such recognition as a starting point towards true cross-border accountability,” said Greenpeace Malaysia campaign manager Heng Kiah Chun and the chairman of the Malaysian People’s Advocacy Group (HARAM), Brendon Gan, in a written statement.

However, their release noted that admissions without publicly disclosed evidence do not empower citizens in either country to hold the responsible parties accountable. Consequently, they are calling on the Indonesian government to commit to sharing such evidence with the Malaysian Government through existing mechanisms in the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) or through direct bilateral channels, rather than merely making public accusations and media statements.

“Meanwhile, the community bearing the health risks, economic burden, and threats to their well-being still does not receive adequate recovery,” said Heng Kiah Chun and Brendon Gan. They added that if the Indonesian government discloses this information, civil society, regulators, and the Malaysian Parliament can pursue accountability efforts within their jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, forest and land fires continue to rage in the Liang Anggang Protected Forest in South Kalimantan. According to firefighting personnel, the latest fire, which began on Tuesday (02/09) night, has burnt between 5 to 10 hectares. Due to a lack of personnel on duty that night, responders could only perform cooling operations.

“On that Wednesday night, it was a major attack because the wind was very strong from the morning,” said Bambang, a firefighter from the Forestry Service, to BBC Indonesia journalist Quin Pasaribu.

As of Friday (04/09), several hotspots are still visible, with thick smoke clearly enveloping the 960-hectare protected forest area. Thick smoke rises continuously from the smouldering peatland, where the burnt peat has turned black and trees have withered or been charred.

Extinguishing efforts, which began at 06:30 local time, continued through the afternoon. Approximately 200 personnel were deployed to tackle the fire within peat depths of 3 to 10 metres, using both land and air methods, including two water-bombing helicopters to slow the spread.

However, extinguishing fires in peatland remains difficult. Personnel face challenges as water from ditches must be pumped to higher-elevation fire sites. “The only things that can extinguish this are rain or an abundant water source to soak it. What we are doing is creating firebreaks to prevent it from spreading, because fundamentally the fire is still smouldering underground.”

Previously, the Head of the South Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Ronny Eka Saputra, stated that based on monitoring data from 1 January to 1 September 2026, there were 2,332 recorded forest and land fire incidents, affecting an area of 12,339.74 hectares. He noted that hotspots and developments are being continuously monitored as a basis for field handling.

According to BPBD South Kalimantan data, fire incidents are spread across several regencies and cities. Banjar Regency recorded 441 incidents covering 2,737.51 hectares, while Banjarbaru City recorded 474 incidents covering 1,831.80 hectares. Other areas include South Hulu Sungai (324 incidents), Tanah Laut (359 incidents), Tapin (183 incidents), Barito Kuala (168 incidents), and others.

Air quality in South Kalimantan remains in the ‘very unhealthy’ category, with the primary pollutant PM2.5 reaching 164.9 g/m³ on Thursday (03/09) morning. Banjarbaru remains one of the three regions in South Kalimantan experiencing the highest number of land fires.