Indonesia’s wildfires and toxic smog choke Southeast Asia

Almost every day for months, Indonesian schoolteacher Natanael Undas has gazed at a smoky sky in apocalyptic shades of yellow and orange.

“It feels like Mars, like we live on another planet,” said Undas, whose home in Central Kalimantan province is at the heart of devastating wildfires generating toxic smog in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia.

Although her family keeps the windows closed at all times, noxious smoke still enters the house, causing Undas’ 2-year-old daughter to constantly sneeze, amid an increase in respiratory illnesses in areas affected by the haze.

Wildfires are nothing new in Indonesia, where forests and peatlands are burned every year as family and commercial farms clear land using traditional “slash and burn” methods. But this year’s fires are much worse than usual, said Undas, who has been documenting Indonesia’s air quality on Instagram since 2014, as heat and drought compounded by a “super” El Niño weather phenomenon make this the country’s worst fire season in more than a decade.

Relentless haze from the fires has affected millions of people in the region since they began in July, closing schools in several countries and sparking debates over responsibility. Indonesian protesters have accused their government of insufficient action, while other countries are threatening prosecution.

Hundreds of Indonesian students and members of civil society groups demonstrated in the capital, Jakarta, and other cities on Wednesday against President Prabowo Subianto’s policies, including his resistance to declaring the fires a national disaster.

“We want transparent, independent investigations into these wildfires,” protester Natasha Ruvantina told NBC News. “And also, we want a long-term prevention strategy.”

The Indonesian government said in a statement Wednesday that it recognized the students’ concerns, adding that it was suing companies linked to the fires and sending aid to affected provinces.

The fires have also caused frustration in countries like neighboring Singapore, where air pollution this month reached its highest level since 2015, when Indonesia’s wildfires were also intensified by El Niño. Singapore authorities have threatened legal action against companies seen as responsible for the devastation, and on Tuesday the foreign ministers of Singapore and Indonesia said they were considering establishing a joint task force to combat illegal land burning.

“We will use the full force of the law to ensure that those who profit from the fires answer for the fires,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said.

Indonesia’s neighbors and other countries have been accused of contributing to the problem.

In a report released this month, Indonesian environmental organization Walhi named 66 companies with links to Singapore and 27 companies with links to Malaysia that it said were associated with fire hotspots. On Thursday, the Indonesian government said police had identified 20 companies suspected of involvement in the fires, including four from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.