This special issue of Inside Indonesia commemorates the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the 1965–1966 genocide, when an estimated half a million men, women and children were murdered for their real or perceived support of the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI).
Human Rights
The Indonesian government announced Rempang Eco City in August 2023 and required the 7,500 people living in the island’s 16 Kampung Tua (old villages) to leave their homes by the end of the next month.
Australian officials have demanded answers from their Indonesian counterparts after the body of a young man who died on the resort island of Bali was repatriated without his heart. Queensland man Byron Haddow, 23, was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa in 2025 while on holiday.
In a massive move for Bali, which continues to attract record numbers of tourists, its governor has now moved to ban all new commercial construction on agricultural land.
Djamari Chaniago was appointed as Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs while Erick Thohir was made the country’s sports minister. The two positions were left vacant when Prabowo reshuffled his Cabinet on Sep 8 that came on the heels of deadly protests last month.
Four residents of Pari Island have filed a lawsuit in Switzerland demanding compensation from the world’s largest cement firm Holcim for the damage wrought to their home by climate change.
The 17+8 People’s Demands movement is a summary of various demands from the people that has become a popular discourse on social media. Influencers such as Andovi Da Lopez, Salsa Erwin, and Jerome Polin are the names who have gathered these various demands.
Following deadly riots in Indonesia and the death of gig workers, South-east Asians are showing solidarity by sending food and necessities via delivery apps.
To date, domestic workers, often referred to as PRT in Indonesia, still do not receive their rights as workers. This is because they work in the domestic sphere.
The IBP investigative team traveled to Chaoshan, an industrial hub in Guangdong Province, China. The area, home to 30–40 factories producing food trays for global markets, also supplies trays for a number of importers involved in Indonesia’s “Makan Bergizi Gratis” (MBG) or Free Nutritious Meal program for school children.
The 100 new battalions have been established to assist in agriculture, animal husbandry and food security, and will not receive combat training. A spokesperson for the Indonesian defence ministry said he could not release information about the size of the new battalions.
The loudspeaker stacks have proven so disruptive that officials in August have restricted their use, while religious bodies have declared excessive and damaging sound from them to be “haram”, or forbidden under Islamic law.
Indonesia has airdropped 18 tonnes of aid into Gaza after being given special permission by Israel. As people in Gaza continue to die of starvation, Indonesia has sent necessities including blankets, staple foods, ready-to-eat meals and medicine.
Since its launch in January, the free school meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases across the archipelago, affecting more than 1,000 people.
Indonesia will convert a medical facility on an uninhabited island to treat about 2,000 wounded residents of Gaza, according to a spokesperson for the president.
The changes, announced on Monday, are small. The main feature is a modest increase in the government’s target maximum number of new international students. This will see the target go from 270,000 in 2025 to 295,000 in 2026.
