Under the warm sun, dozens of people wearing black or dark colours gathered at the front of the State Library of Victoria on Thursday afternoon to voice concern about forest and land fires that have been blazing across parts of Indonesia since August.

Indonesian students and diaspora members joined the event called Aksi Kamisan (Thursday Action).

Wildfires happen every year in Indonesia. This year has been one of the nation’s most severe fire seasons, with 1.21 million fire hotspots across islands and the country reportedly producing the world’s highest carbon emissions.

The wildfires have been raging in peatland areas, especially in Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra, causing haze to spread to neighbouring countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.

University of Melbourne (UniMelb) student Rayhan Abi Mayzan is part of the Indonesian diaspora political collective Melbourne Bergerak, which organised the action.

Rayhan is originally from Pekanbaru in Riau province, which was affected by the wildfires.

“I have experienced haze in my neighbourhood every year,” he said. 

“Now that I’m in Melbourne, I realise what a great privilege it is to be able to see a clear, blue sky every single day—whereas back in Riau, forest fires felt so commonplace, almost entirely normal,” Rayhan said.

Wildfire in Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia (Photo: Salim Van Java, 14 October 2026)

“But looking back at what has unfolded over the last few years, I’ve come to understand why these forest fires actually happen. This isn't a natural disaster; it’s a consequence of human activity,” he said.

Veronika Krasnasari, President of the LPDP UniMelb Association, said “speaking out while we’re studying [...] it’s the least of the citizen duty that we can do right now”.

Veronika is calling for increased government transparency in relation to the wildfire causes, accountability through legal process, and long-term solutions that focus on forest and land restoration and prevention of the recurrent wildfires.

Studying in the Master of Environment program, Veronika said El Niño was not the only contributing factor in the wildfires.

“We have hundreds of people [sent to] prison because of burning the lands, but who tells them to?” she said.

On 14 October, the National Police named 223 individuals and nine companies as suspects in connection with the wildfires. Last week, the Forestry Ministry announced sanctions on 32 companies, including permit suspensions, ecosystem restoration and outright revocations.

According to a report published by the environmental NGO Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI), 50 per cent of the fire hotspots are within corporations’ operational areas in the forestry and oil palm plantation sectors, with some being allegedly affiliated with foreign capital.

The report also highlights failures in permit governance that contributed to the disaster, such as problematic permit issuance in peat ecosystems, poor oversight, and weak law enforcement.

Air quality in Indonesia, on 26 October (Source: IQAir).

A school teacher in Banjarbaru Utara, South Kalimantan province on Borneo island, Fatimatuzzahra, often called Zahra, said the smoke has affected students’ health.

“The children keep saying that they feel dizzy, have sore throats and coughs and have a cold,” Zahra said. 

She said people who are around the hotspots were also affected psychologically.

“They experience intense anxiety and worry because they are afraid the fires will hit their house. They can't sleep peacefully,” she added.

On the same day when the solidarity action was happening at the State Library of Victoria, Zahra said the smoke in her place was severe and “as the day goes on, the smoke keeps getting thicker.”

“This morning I wore a KN95 mask, but I could still really feel the smoke—it even smelled so strong that I had to cover the mask with my hands. My clothes reeked of smoke too; honestly, it felt like someone was smoking right in my face,” she said.

“I even had some ash from the fires get into my eye—it was painful,” she added.

Image Credit: Adel Stevina