Indonesia arrests 72 over forest fires as choking haze spreads into Malaysia

Indonesian police have named 72 individual suspects in an expanding crackdown on forest and peatland fires across Sumatra and Borneo, as thick smoke spreads across national borders into Malaysia and investigators begin tracing whether companies financed or benefited from deliberate land clearing.

Indonesia’s National Police said 89 police reports involving suspected forest and land-fire offences had been opened across nine regional police jurisdictions between January 1 and August 21. The cases cover more than 1,006 hectares of burned land directly under criminal investigation, while the wider 2026 fire emergency extends across a much larger area.

The fires have intensified during prolonged dry conditions associated with the powerful developing El Niño. Smoke has crossed into Malaysia, where hazardous air pollution has forced widespread school closures in Sarawak and affected roughly 200,000 students.

Where have Indonesian police opened the 89 forest-fire cases?

Police investigations span Riau, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Aceh and North Kalimantan.

The National Police said many cases began with satellite detection of hotspots, followed by field verification. Officers first work with emergency teams to extinguish and cool affected locations before criminal investigators examine the scene and collect evidence.

Authorities have adopted a target of responding within one to two hours of satellite hotspot detection where operationally possible. Equipment available includes portable pumps, specialised vehicles, fire-suppression drones and helicopters used for water bombing.

The 72 people named as suspects are accused in separate investigations and have not been convicted. Police say investigators are now looking beyond individuals found at fire sites to determine who may have ordered, financed or profited from illegal burning.

Why are investigators examining possible corporate involvement?

Fire is a cheap method of clearing vegetation before land is used for agriculture or plantations. Indonesian authorities have fought the practice for decades because fires lit on dry vegetation or peat can escape their intended boundaries and become extraordinarily difficult to extinguish.

Peatland presents a particular problem because organic material below the surface can continue burning even when flames above ground appear controlled. Smoke from such fires can persist for long periods and travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres.

Police official Mohammad Irhamni said investigators were tracing financial records to identify whether organisations or businesses stood behind some of the burning. Four companies in West Kalimantan were reported to be under scrutiny as part of the broader enforcement campaign.

Establishing corporate responsibility requires more than finding a fire on or near land associated with a company. Investigators need evidence linking management decisions, financing, instructions or negligent conduct to the burning before criminal liability can be established.

How serious has the haze become in neighbouring Malaysia?

Smoke from Borneo does not respect national borders. Large fires in Indonesian Kalimantan can send haze into Malaysia’s Sarawak and Sabah regions depending on wind conditions.

Nearly 600 schools in Sarawak have been closed during the current episode, affecting approximately 200,000 students as air quality deteriorated. Residents have also faced reduced visibility and health concerns, while aviation and road transport can become more difficult during severe haze.

Cross-border haze has repeatedly strained relations among Southeast Asian countries because the health and economic cost can be felt far from the land where a fire begins.

Indonesia has considerably strengthened enforcement, monitoring and fire-response capabilities since catastrophic haze episodes in earlier decades. The latest emergency demonstrates that favourable weather is still critical because even sophisticated suppression resources struggle when drought, peat and thousands of hotspots occur simultaneously.

How is the 2026 El Niño making the wildfire problem worse?

El Niño commonly increases the risk of dry conditions across parts of Indonesia. The exceptionally strong 2026 event is therefore arriving in one of the regions historically most vulnerable to its rainfall effects.

The Met Office says Indonesia and other western Pacific areas face heightened drought risk as Pacific temperatures continue rising. Less rainfall dries vegetation and peat, allowing fires to spread more rapidly and making deliberately lit agricultural fires much more difficult to contain.

Authorities reported thousands of hotspots across Borneo and Sumatra as the crisis intensified. Indonesia has deployed dozens of helicopters, water bombing and weather-modification measures to contain fires, while President Prabowo Subianto visited Central Kalimantan and promised stronger enforcement.

The climate pattern does not cause people to light illegal fires. It makes the consequences of those actions potentially much larger.

Could the 72 arrests finally change the economics of illegal land clearing?

That depends on whether enforcement reaches the people who ultimately benefit rather than stopping with workers or small farmers found physically close to fires.

Illegal burning remains attractive in part because it can be cheaper and faster than clearing vegetation mechanically. If expected penalties remain lower than the savings, enforcement may struggle to change behaviour.

Police have signalled that they intend to trace those who commissioned or financed burning, which could substantially increase deterrence if cases ultimately reach businesses and individuals controlling larger economic interests.

For Malaysia and other neighbours, the success of that effort matters because haze is a regional externality. Indonesia bears much of the firefighting burden, but schools, hospitals, airlines, employers and families elsewhere can also absorb the cost.

The 72 suspects therefore represent only the visible beginning of the current enforcement campaign. The more consequential question is whether investigators can establish who sits behind deliberate burning at scale and make illegal fire-clearing economically less attractive before an exceptional El Niño pushes the 2026 dry season deeper into crisis.