On Tuesday (20 October), student-led protests erupted across Indonesia. They are demanding government action on soaring living costs and a prolonged environmental crisis.
Demonstrations were held in major cities including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Pekanbaru, and Makassar. In the capital, hundreds of university students gathered at the Tugu Tani monument (Heroes’ Monument), voicing frustration over economic pressures, environmental damage, and what they described as government ineptitude and corruption.
There are two major causes of these protests. On the economic front, students protested the rising cost of living, fueled by higher fuel and food prices. They are demanding that education and healthcare be made more affordable.
On the environmental front, the country is grappling with severe forest and peatland fires in Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua, which have generated a toxic haze that has disrupted flights, forced school closures, and raised public health concerns. According to the Jakarta Post, the fires, exacerbated by an El Niño-driven dry season, have burned over 1.9 million hectares of land in the first nine months of 2026 and have affected an estimated 40 million people.
🚨🇮🇩 #Indonesia : Videos show chaotic nighttime scenes from protests in #Bandung tonight. #Students and civil groups demanded reviews of policies on jobs, prices, corruption, and forest fires. Some burned barriers earlier; later, groups threw stones, fireworks and Molotovs at a police truck near Sulanjana, injuring 3 officers. https://t.co/nOVS1Zztf4
— World_Breaking_News03 (@Breaking2003) October 20, 2026
Protesters issued a list of demands, calling on the government to declare the prolonged fires a national disaster, prosecute companies responsible for the environmental damage, and take stronger action on corruption. “I have the right to breathe. Extinguish the fires immediately,” read one banner held by a demonstrator in Jakarta.
Authorities deployed more than 9,500 security personnel across the capital in response to the demonstrations. While the protests were largely peaceful, reports indicated that a police truck was set on fire during the unrest, and some demonstrators burned effigies of the President and Vice President.
In a separate action, Greenpeace Indonesia activists climbed the Welcome Monument at Jakarta’s Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to unfurl banners protesting the government’s failure to address the wildfires, with at least six protesters detained by police.
Indonesia’s last major protest took place in August, when hundreds were detained. Before this, nationwide protests also occurred in 2025 after the police killing of a motorcycle taxi driver. The clashes recorded last year also resulted in several people being killed.
