Category Archives: Indonesia

‘Wage theft’ in Primark, Nike and H&M supply chain – report

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No laws were broken but brands failed to ensure workers were paid properly during the pandemic, says Clean Clothes Campaign

Campaigners claim to have found evidence of “wage theft” in the supply chains of Primark, Nike and H&M in a report that outlines the devastating consequences of the pandemic on garment workers in Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Research by the Clean Clothes Campaign found that, while none of the brands had broken any laws, they had failed to ensure that their workers were properly paid throughout the pandemic.

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Indonesia triples oxygen supplies as Covid-19 outbreak worsens

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Hospitals in Jakarta unable to cope with demand as Delta variant accounts for more than 60% of cases

Indonesia is tripling its oxygen supplies to hospitals as data suggests the Delta variant of coronavirus is now driving the country’s worsening outbreak, accounting for more than 60% of recent cases.

Indonesia’s health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, told the Guardian that three-quarters of the national oxygen production used for industry would be redeployed to hospitals for the next two weeks.

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Five Asian countries account for 80% of new coal power investment

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China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 coal power units

Five Asian countries are jeopardising global climate ambitions by investing in 80% of the world’s planned new coal plants, according to a report.

Carbon Tracker, a financial thinktank, has found that China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 coal power units, even though renewable energy is cheaper than most new coal plants.

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Indonesian Covid deaths add to questions over Sinovac vaccine

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Authorities consider giving other jabs to medics after 10 fully vaccinated doctors die in June

At least 10 out of 26 Indonesian doctors who have died from Covid-19 this month had been fully vaccinated with Sinovac, prompting authorities to consider whether medics should receive alternative doses to boost immunity.

Indonesia, which has relied on the Chinese-made vaccine for its health workers, is struggling with a new surge in coronavirus cases. The latest outbreak, driven by new variants, has overwhelmed hospitals and burial sites in Jakarta and on the island of Java. On Monday the country announced 20,694 new infections.

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‘I’ve seen too many bodies’: Jakarta gravediggers chart Indonesia’s Covid battle

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Workers like Darsiman sometimes work 16-hour days in the mud to handle the coffins brought out from a line of waiting ambulances

It is only noon and the grave diggers at Rorotan cemetery have buried 23 bodies of Covid-19 patients since they started work at 7am.

At least two excavators are on standby because the hard soil in the area makes it difficult to dig with just shovels.

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Indonesia tightens restrictions as it confirms record new coronavirus infections

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The country’s infections, the worst in south-east Asia, have passed two million

Indonesian health authorities are battling a new surge in coronavirus infections, as the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) reported the highest one-day total, with 14,535 cases confirmed in the 24 hours to Monday.

Daily case totals are reaching levels last seen in January, the peak of Indonesia’s fight against the virus.

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Hungary’s LGBT protests and Juneteenth Day: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms from China to Colombia

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Delta variant of Covid spreading rapidly and detected in 74 countries

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Concerns over impact on poorer countries, while richer governments try different containment measures

The Delta variant of Covid-19, first identified in India, has been detected in 74 countries and continues to spread rapidly amid fears that it is poised to become the dominant strain worldwide.

With outbreaks of the main Delta strain and several of its sub-lineages confirmed in China, the US, Africa, Scandinavia and the Pacific, concern increasingly is focusing on how it appears to be more transmissible as well as causing more serious illness.

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Children with Covid: why are some countries seeing more cases – and deaths?

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The perceived wisdom has been that children do not suffer severely from the virus. Yet they are now in Brazil, Indonesia and India

Emergency physician and leading epidemiologist in Brazil, Dr Fatima Marinho, is seeing symptoms of Covid-19 in children that starkly contrast with the message that has been relayed globally throughout the pandemic that children do not appear to suffer severely from the virus.

Severe muscle aches, diarrhoea, coughing, abdominal pain and hospitalisation – all of these are happening to children with Covid-19 in Brazil, Marinho says.

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Rijksmuseum slavery exhibition confronts cruelty of Dutch trade

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Amsterdam show includes 140 objects ranging from Rembrandt portraits to human collars and ankle chains

The aim of a first exhibition on the Dutch slave trade to be shown at the Rijksmuseum, launched on Tuesday by King Willem-Alexander, is not to be “woke” but to be a “blockbuster” telling a truer story of the Golden Age, the director general of the national institution has said.

Taco Dibbits said his museum had no intention of taking sides in a political and cultural debate but that the royal visit, broadcast live on national television, highlighted that the wealth bestowed and cruelty endured was not just relevant to the descendants of those enslaved.

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‘Have a little empathy’: Bali tires of badly behaved foreign influencers

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Tourists threaten the island’s economic recovery by ignoring Covid protocols, including refusing to wear masks and even making a porn film

A Russian Instagrammer who launched his motorbike off a dock, crashing into the sea. Two YouTube pranksters who fooled a supermarket guard with drawn-on face masks, violating the island’s health rules. A couple allegedly filming porn on a sacred mountain.

Bali has hosted a range of badly behaved influencers during the pandemic. And now it’s had enough.

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My father works for the company that sells weapons used in my partner’s homeland | Izzy Brown

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I had never imagined how horribly the company my father works for was entangled with the story of my West Papuan partner

​They make great trucks. That’s what my father says whenever I ask him: “What do they make? Who do they sell them to?” “Only to the good guys,”​​​​ is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls “trucks”, most people call “tanks”. And ​I am always led to wonder, “What kind of ‘good guy’ drives a tank?”

My father works for Thales, one of the richest weapons corporations in the world. Before heading up security for Thales he worked for Asio, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

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Workers at Indonesian pharma firm arrested over ‘reused’ Covid swabs

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Nasal swabs allegedly washed, repackaged and sold to passengers required to take test at Medan airport

Staff at an Indonesian pharmaceutical company have been accused of washing and repackaging used Covid nasal swabs, which were then sold to thousands of unsuspecting travellers.

Five employees from the state-owned Kimia Farma have been arrested, while the company may also face a civil lawsuit over the claims.

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Video shows Indonesian submarine crew singing in the weeks before vessel sank

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A video released by the Indonesian military shows the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine singing the song Sampai Jumpa ('Goodbye') together, weeks before the vessel sank in the Bali Sea. None of the 53 crew members survived. The submarine was found broken in three parts on the seabed

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Photos show missing Indonesian navy submarine found broken up on seabed

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Parts of KRI Nanggala including its rudder, anchors and outer body found scattered at bottom of sea

A missing Indonesian submarine has been found, broken into at least three parts, deep in the Bali Sea, army and navy officials have said, as the president sent condolences to relatives of the 53 crew.

On Sunday, the Indonesian military head, Hadi Tjahjanto, said there was no chance of finding any of the crew alive.

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‘Will the killings stop?’ Demands for Asean to ensure Myanmar honours pledge to end violence

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Asean says consensus with junta was ‘beyond expectations’, but there is no timeline or explicit commitment to stop violence

Human Rights Watch has told south-east Asian leaders not to “pat themselves on the back” for getting Myanmar’s military rulers to agree to end deadly violence, saying a consensus reached by Asean lacks specifics and makes no mention of freeing political prisoners.

Nearly 750 protesters have been killed since the military seized power in a 1 February coup. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced after a summit on Saturday that the head of Myanmar’s junta had agreed to stop the violence. The Malaysian prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who attended the meeting, said the outcome was “beyond our expectation”.

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Myanmar military must stop violence against citizens, says Joko Widodo

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Indonesian president’s remarks come after crisis talks with junta chief and south-east Asian leaders

Myanmar’s military must restore democracy and stop the violence against citizens, the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, said after crisis talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and south-east Asian leaders on Saturday.

The strongly worded comments followed a meeting in Jakarta of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which was the senior Myanmar general’s first foreign trip since security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February.

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Debris recovered from missing Indonesian submarine

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KRI Nanggala 402 declared sunk with no hope of rescuing its 53 crew members as oxygen deadline passes

Rescue teams searching for a missing Indonesian naval submarine have recovered debris, indicating that the vessel with a crew of 53 has sunk, a military chief said.

Admiral Yudo Margono, the chief of staff, said rescuers found several items from KRI Nanggala 402, including parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope, and prayer rugs.

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Missing Indonesian submarine: rescuers find unidentified object as oxygen runs low

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Race to find missing navy vessel as authorities warn oxygen in KRI Nanggala-402 will run out within 24 hours

Indonesia’s president has ordered an all-out effort to find a missing submarine in a race against time to save the 53 crew, whose oxygen supply was only expected to last another 24 hours.

As the US military said on Thursday that it was joining the search, the Indonesian navy said its ships had found an unidentified object at a depth of 50-100 metres (165-330ft).

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Indonesian navy submarine goes missing with 53 people onboard

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Search operation under way after vessel disappears about 60 miles north of Bali

Indonesia’s navy is searching for a submarine that went missing north of the resort island of Bali with 53 people onboard.

The country’s military chief, Hadi Tjahjanto, said on Wednesday that the KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise when it missed a scheduled reporting call. The vessel is believed to have disappeared in waters about 60 miles (95km) north of Bali, he said.

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