Indonesians wave white flags as anger grows over slow flood aid

For weeks now, angry and distressed residents in Indonesia’s westernmost province have been waving white flags against the state’s slow response to a series of deadly floods.

Triggered by a rare cyclone in Novemberthe flood killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands on the island of Sumatra. In Aceh, the worst-hit province, which accounts for almost half of the deaths, many people still do not have access to clean water, food, electricity and medical supplies.

In a sign of how frustrating the management of the crisis has become, the governor of North Aceh publicly collapsed earlier this month.

“Doesn’t the central government know [what we’re experiencing]? I don’t understand,” Ismail A Jalil said in tears in front of the cameras.

But President Prabowo Subianto refused foreign aid, saying the situation was “under control”.

“Indonesia is capable of overcoming this disaster,” he told his cabinet last week. Prabowo also ignored calls to declare the situation a national disaster, which would release emergency funds and streamline relief efforts.

Prabowo’s administration is increasingly criticized as reactive, disorganized and out of touch – adjectives that some analysts say have come to define his presidency, which he won in February 2024 on the basis of populist promises.

Already this year, its flagship $1 billion free school meals program has been mired in controversy over massive food poisoning. In August and September, thousands of Indonesians took to the streets against unemployment and the rising cost of living, in some of the biggest protests the country has seen in decades.

And now his government’s response to November’s floods has become an additional challenge for the leader, even as his approval rating has remained stable at around 78%.

Last Thursday, dozens of protesters gathered in Aceh’s capital, Banda Aceh, waving white flags and demanding that the central government open the door to foreign aid.

Among the crowd was a little girl holding a piece of paper that read: “I’m only three years old, I want to grow up in a safe and sustainable world.”

Although generally seen as a symbol of capitulation, the white flags that have appeared across the province – on broken roofs, along eroded riverbanks and outside mosques – are a call for international solidarity, protesters say.

“The flags do not mean that we are giving in. They are a distress signal to attract the attention of our friends outside, to let them know that the conditions in Aceh today are very bad,” Husnul Khawatinnissa, who was present at the rally, told the BBC.

Entire villages were wiped out, while extensive damage to roads and infrastructure also isolated many communities. Survivors spoke of disease and starvation.

“How much longer do we have to wash in mud and floodwaters,” shouted Nurmi Ali, another protester.

Provincial authorities have asked the United Nations for support, with Aceh’s governor saying he welcomes help “from anyone, anywhere.”

Prabowo’s administration said relief efforts were underway on a “nationwide scale,” noting that it had disbursed some 60 trillion rupiah ($3.6 billion) for reconstruction efforts.

For some in Aceh, the situation brings back painful memories of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters ever seen.

A magnitude 9.1 undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that unleashed waves up to 30 meters high that hit the Indian Ocean coastline that morning, killing an estimated 230,000 people in more than a dozen countries.

Aceh, already ravaged by decades of civil warwas among the hardest hit. Residents say they had just finished rebuilding their lives when disaster struck again in November.

Relief arrived more quickly after the 2004 tsunami, even though it was much more devastating, they say.

Various countries, multilateral agencies like the World Bank and private organizations have invested billions of dollars in recovery efforts. The Indonesian government then created an agency dedicated to managing aid funds and projects.

“Everyone took action and the community recovered quickly after the tsunami. What we are suffering from today is worse,” said Rindu Majalina, who was a high school student when the tsunami hit.

This mother of three has been struggling to feed her children since recent floods engulfed their home. Residents “fight like zombies” for every delivery of food to their village “because we are starving”, she added.

Several countries have offered to help. The United Arab Emirates, for example, sent 30 tonnes of rice and 300 relief packages to Medan, another flood-hit city – but everything was sent back by authorities following what they described as “directives” from the central government.

The president’s refusal to accept international aid is his way of asserting his authority, said Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa, a senior policy researcher at the Indonesian Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Opening the door to foreign aid means inviting foreign scrutiny, which they don’t want… [Prabowo] does not want to be seen as a failure and tries to maintain your image” said Mr. Perkasa, noting however that this could backfire politically.

Prabowo prioritized “the symbolic performance of sovereignty” over crisis management, said Vedi Hadiz, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Melbourne.

Critics say the government has little understanding of the situation on the ground. Some also accuse Prabowo of being insensitive to flood victims by favoring the expansion of oil palm plantations – environmental groups say the deforestation caused by this has also made the flooding worse.

Rindu Majalina said she initially felt lucky to have survived the floods, “but it turns out the post-disaster situation is even worse.”

“It’s been very painful and miserable,” she said. “Everything is completely paralyzed, from markets to schools to offices. My children don’t know if they will ever be able to go back to school.”

With reporting by Akramul Muslim, Rino Abonita and Nanda Fahriza Batubara in Aceh