Over the past few years many companies have committed to sustainable palm oil. But that is threatened by a growing alliance between industry and government.
Timor-Leste is one of the world’s most oil-dependent countries.
EPA/Antonio Dasiparu
The principal consequence of Australia’s inevitable but little-debated decision to acquire submarines is to contribute to a rapidly escalating regional arms race.
Why do vigilante groups in Indonesia get away with harassing and threatening leftists?
Courtesy of Belok Kiri Festival
Non-state actors in Indonesia use violence and intimidation against a critical civil society as a means for the political and business elites to maintain wealth and power.
The steering committee of Indonesia Science Funds (ISF) at the launch of the multi-year research funding organisation.
Indonesia Science Fund (Dana Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia)
Indonesia should tackle the job and income insecurities that plague its large young workforce, to help prevent them being lured into joining violent extremist groups.
Since Operation Sovereign Borders began in September 2013, the flow of asylum boats to Australia has all but ceased.
AAP/Amnesty International
Australia’s policy to stop the flow of asylum seeker boats to its shores has increased the number of refugees stranded in Indonesia.
Despite its limitations, the Bali Process is the main game in town when it comes to dealing with forced migration in the Asia-Pacific.
EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak
There is every sign the underlying causes of forced migration – war, repression, ethnic conflict, climate change displacement and rampant human trafficking – will continue.
Indonesia wants to restore its degraded peatlands. But first it needs to know how to map them.
EPA/Bagus Indahono
Last year, fires burned 2 million hectares of peatlands in Indonesia. The country wants to restore them. But first it needs to know the extent and depth of its peatlands.
The silence of President Joko Widodo amid a growing sense of clear and present danger to Indonesia’s LGBT population is troubling.
EPA/Mast Irham
The recent anti-gay comments by Indonesian public officials may inspire militant Islamists with a propensity for violence to physically harm LGBT people.
Students in a school run by refugees in Indonesia learn maths, English, art and science.
Sal Clark, Swinburne University of Technology e Carly Copolov, Swinburne University of Technology
A school set up by asylum seekers and refugees in the West Java town Cisarua, Indonesia, is a community-led initiative that Australian and Indonesian governments should model and support.
Indonesia must carefully consider the cost and benefits of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Grasko/www.shutterstock.com
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is eyeing to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, already signed by a dozen countries, including Australia.
A mob burnt down a compound of a religious cult in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Reuters/Antara Photo Agency
Ismatu Ropi, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Why and how do new religious movements emerge? And how can Indonesia protect religious freedom amid hostility towards unorthodox religious groups?
Adi Rukun questions Commander Amir Siahaan, one of the death squad leaders responsible for his brother’s death during the Indonesian genocide, in Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Look of Silence.
Courtesy of Drafthouse Films and Participant Media.
Oscar nominated documentary The Look of Silence follows an optometrist whose brother was killed in Indonesia’s 1965 massacre. But to understand the bigger picture, viewers should watch its prequels.
Despite challenges, Indonesia’s LGBT community continues to fight for its rights.
esfera/shutterstock.com
A recent onslaught against gays and lesbians in Indonesia shows a fresh wave of moral panic over homosexuality in the world’s most populous Muslim country.
Indonesian media moguls have argued that the internet means cross-media ownership laws that prevent common ownership of radio, television and newspapers are obsolete.
shutterstock
Indonesia’s media landscape may be a model which Australia is emulating as it looks to change media ownership laws. There are positives to this, but also causes for concern.
Black rhino cow and calf, southern Africa.
Guy Castley
Female genital mutilation have long been carried out by traditional circumcisers in Indonesia. In recent years, the ritual has been increasingly institutionalised into medical practice.