Indonesia is living through an unprecedented crisis caused by fires burning through forests — often virgin, and therefore destroyed illegally — to make way for oil palm plantations. The air has been unbreathable for months. The typical colour of the days is sepia, with no filter required. Six provinces of the country have declared a state of emergency, and thousands of people are abandoning their land, as are hundreds of animals — above all orangutans already at risk of extinction due to habitat loss — forced to flee "their" forests.

Ten dead and hundreds of thousands poisoned

The situation is out of control above all in Sumatra and Kalimantan, where ten people have died from breathing contaminated air, while more than 500,000 people have experienced health problems since 1 July. The fires, set in order to make land suitable for cultivation that had until that point enjoyed protected status, have also been fuelled by arid conditions and a prolonged absence of rainfall caused by the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. The level of pollutants in the air recorded by the Pollutant Standard Index reached 2,000. Any figure above 300 would be considered dangerous to health.

A crime against humanity

Sutopo Puro Nugroho, spokesperson for the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (Bmkg), stated that in these months approximately 43 million people have inhaled toxic substances, although the number could be far higher: "This is a crime against humanity of gigantic proportions. But now is not the time to point the finger at those responsible; rather, it is the time to focus on how we can address this situation quickly."

twtmarathon @twtmarathon

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Dear PM @NajibRazak, do something for Malaysia & our neighbour
#pesanuntukpresidenRI
#evakuasikami
#rawatkorbanasap

♥ 2 20 ott 2015 · Apri su X →

The population's cry for help

Meanwhile, the population has decided to make its voice heard — a voice that the Jakarta government led by President Joko Widodo has often ignored. On Twitter, the hashtags #EvakuasiKami (evacuate us) and #RevolusiLangitBiru (blue sky revolution) were launched, going viral within hours and gathering tweets from people who, placards in hand, are calling for an immediate end to this situation.

Coconuts Jakarta @CoconutsJakarta

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Indonesia readies shelter ships as haze last resort after #EvakuasiKami hits Twitter jakarta.coconuts.co/2015/10/23/ind…

23 ott 2015 · Apri su X →

The effects of the fires are also being felt in neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where many schools have been forced to close and many outdoor events have been cancelled, as have numerous flights which, had they taken off, would have put passengers' lives at risk. For all these reasons, a boycott campaign targeting many Indonesian-made products is under way. The country is being criticised from several quarters, accused of not doing enough to combat a crime that has been going on for years. Many are asking why it is so difficult to send the message "if you start a fire, you go to prison," and what the real interests are behind this tragedy.

International aid is not enough

The governments of Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan and Russia have offered assistance to Widodo through the deployment of helicopters and water-bomber aircraft. But the help does not appear to be sufficient. It has been estimated that the fires have already cost the Indonesian government 30 billion dollars (approximately 27.2 billion euros). An enormous sum for a country in pursuit of growth. An incalculable loss for a territory that is, in theory, fortunate in having magnificent forests, and that should be focusing on sustainable development without letting a single hectare of land go to waste.