By: Madinatul Fajar – Acheh – Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO)
UNPO and the Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) call on the international community to pay urgent attention to the devastating floods and landslides that struck northern and western Sumatra in late November 2025. The scale of the disaster, compounded by long-standing environmental mismanagement and systemic exclusion of local communities from decision-making, has left thousands vulnerable and highlights the urgent need for global engagement to support and protect those most affected.
Beginning in mid-November 2025, northern and western Sumatra experienced an escalation of severe weather, with torrential rainfall intensified by a tropical storm system. The situation reached catastrophic peaks on November 26, resulting in widespread floods and landslides across the region. According to Indonesia’s disaster agency (BNPB), at least 604 people have been killed and more than 400 remained missing as rivers overflowed, hillsides collapsed and entire villages were engulfed by sudden surges of water and mud. With many districts still unreachable due to destroyed roads, washed-out bridges and downed communication lines, local volunteers and community responders warned that the true toll may be far higher, as several remote communities remained completely isolated.
In Acheh’s Bireuen district, flash floods destroyed nine bridges, severing the vital Medan–Banda Aceh highway and forcing residents to cross swollen rivers in small boats to reach food, water and medical assistance. In North and West Sumatra, landslides buried homes and rendered entire neighborhoods inaccessible, with emergency teams struggling to navigate washed-out roads and collapsed infrastructure. The breakdown of transportation and communication networks further deepened the crisis, leaving isolated communities with no means to request help or report conditions on the ground.
These interconnected failures reveal a stark truth: storms may trigger disasters, but it is long-term environmental mismanagement — from deforestation and plantation expansion to peatland degradation and unregulated land-use change — that turns heavy rainfall into catastrophe. A 2024 peer-reviewed study recorded 2,029 floods in Acheh between 2011 and 2018, showing a rising trend and linking higher flood risk to reduced forest cover, widespread oil-palm plantations and intense rainfall. The study also found that the districts most exposed to flooding were those marked by higher poverty and lower population density, highlighting the overlap between environmental vulnerability and social marginalization.
Between 2011 and 2018, floods in Acheh displaced around 158,000 people, damaged nearly 25,000 homes, and submerged over 11,000 hectares of farmland, impacts falling overwhelmingly on rural communities whose livelihoods depend on local ecosystems. For these residents, the loss of a single bridge or road can isolate entire districts overnight. When forests are cleared and watersheds destabilized, it is they who bear the consequences, despite having little to no influence over the policies that shape their land.
Those most affected by these disasters remain largely excluded from the decisions that shape their environment and safety. Climate policy, forest governance, and land-use planning are still determined in Jakarta, with limited local participation despite the framework of “special autonomy.” As a result, key choices about forests, concessions, and climate priorities are made far from the communities that experience their consequences.
Indonesia’s climate framework exposes a structural problem: frontline communities like those in Acheh have little influence over policies that directly affect their land and safety. Indonesia’s NDCs remain largely top-down, shaped without meaningful participation from Indigenous peoples or regions most exposed to environmental harm. This exclusion becomes visible every time a disaster strikes. While Jakarta receives rapid mobilization and political attention, peripheral regions such as Acheh, West Sumatra and North Sumatra often wait days for assistance, relying primarily on volunteers rather than state support.
This disparity extends beyond geographic factors, reflecting a political structure in which Acheh’s needs receive comparatively less priority. The region is positioned within a governance framework that limits its capacity for autonomous decision-making. For this reason, greater global attention is urgently needed. Achehnese communities must be able to participate directly in climate discussions, human-rights mechanisms and environmental governance platforms.
Independent evaluations following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami revealed significant mismanagement by the central government in the distribution of aid, with many survivors failing to receive the assistance promised to them. This previous experience highlights the ongoing risk that similar failures could occur in the wake of the recent Sumatra floods if the Achenese community themselves does not directly participate in the repetition of aid and support to victims of the floods. It also underscores the necessity for international climate financing to prioritize community-led adaptation, ensuring that resources reach villages, farmers, and civil-society actors through transparent and direct channels. Strong oversight of disaster relief and independent monitoring are therefore essential to ensure that aid effectively supports the most vulnerable populations and prevents the recurrence of past management failures.
UNPO and the Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) ask for external scrutiny, supported by independent and trusted observers, and for the meaningful participation of Indigenous peoples in discussions on how funds are distributed and utilized. The 2025 floods reveal both environmental vulnerability and a deeper need for inclusive representation and equitable access to international support, ensuring that resources are used not only for recovery, but also for effective prevention.
Accordingly, we call the international community to entrust peoples on the front lines such as the Achenese as equal global partners ensuring their voices are being heard at climate institutions as legitimate stakeholders in their own future. Building true stability depends on empowering local communities to engage directly in decision-making, which reduces vulnerabilities and also strengthens their capacity to anticipate, prevent and withstand future crises.
UNPO joins the Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) in calling for urgent international attention and coordinated action to to ensure that Acheh’s people are protected in accordance with international standards, on an equal footing with communities worldwide.
UNPO reiterates the urgent importance of supporting peoples who lack meaningful representation, as they are consistently the ones who bear the heaviest consequences of climate-related disasters. We stress that the protection of fundamental rights, the promotion of non-violence and the recognition of local agency are not optional, they are essential principles for building a just and equitable response to crises. UNPO calls on the international community, as well as all parties involved in conflicts and crises, to uphold these principles, ensuring that actions are guided by respect for human dignity, adherence to non-violence and the protection of fundamental rights. Only through sustained diplomacy, inclusive dialogue and mutual respect can stability and equitable solutions be achieved for all affected communities.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-flood-relief-for-aceh-sumatra-community-back-home
