WORLD · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
Timor-Leste Shuts Schools Due to Haze from Indonesia Wildfires
WHY IT MATTERS
The health of children is at risk due to the toxic air, and regional governments must take action to cut pollution at its source and strengthen protections for children.
What happened
Haze from wildfires in Indonesia has forced Timor-Leste to shut schools for the remainder of the week. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of State Administration have asked families to avoid leaving children outside 'unnecessarily' and for all children to avoid outdoor physical activity.
The haze has been triggered by intense forest and peatland fires in Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan, exacerbated by a powerful El Niño event.
Major cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have experienced 'very unhealthy' to hazardous air pollution levels.
PRIMARY SOURCES
‘Children are being choked by toxic smoke’: Schools shut in Timor-Leste as haze from Indonesia wildfires continues to affect countries across Southeast Asia
ReliefWeb / original provider · Save the Children · ReliefWeb aggregation; original provider terms apply; link and attribution to the named source required
CORRECTIONS & UPDATES
- Revision 1 · Initial ingestion · Oct 15, 2026, 11:00 AM
- Revision 2 · Source update detected · Oct 15, 2026, 11:00 AM