Adi Warsidi, Jakarta – A total of 91,962 people, or 24,426 families, across Aceh remain in evacuation centers following the devastating floods and landslides that struck at the end of November 2025. They are scattered across 988 refugee points in various regencies and cities throughout the province.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – More than a month after a hydrometeorological disaster swept across northern Sumatra in late November, children can be seen begging on the roadside in Aceh, carrying empty cardboard boxes and seeking a helping hand from passersby due to limited humanitarian aid.

Alfitria Nefi Pratiwi, Jakarta – The Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan, reported that about 30,000 hectares of fish ponds in Aceh were damaged due to Sumatra floods. "Not only in Pidie Jaya, which was reported, but there are about 30 thousand hectares in the entire Aceh," said Zulkifli, in a written statement on Friday, January 9, 2026.

Antara, Jakarta – Raja Village in the Bendahara District of Aceh Tamiang was submerged again after a levee burst. Water overflowed and flooded local residential areas. "Our village is flooded again because the levee, which has not been repaired, burst," said a local youth figure, M. Daud, in Aceh Tamiang on Thursday, January 1, 2026.

M. Faiz Zaki, Jakarta – Main Director of PT PLN (Persero) Darmawan Prasodjo said that the electricity recovery in three regencies in Aceh remains low. The mentioned areas are Central Aceh Regency, Bener Meriah Regency, and Gayo Lues Regency.

Wahyu Wilopo, Indonesia – In 2004, Aceh was hardest hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2025, Indonesia's most disaster-aware province was among the worst hit by floods. The failure was not forecasting, but what happened – or didn't – after the alarms were raised.

Jakarta – A number of civil society groups and organisations have criticised the alleged violence and repressive actions by Indonesian Military (TNI) officers against a demonstration by people in North Aceh over the government's handling of the flood and landslide disaster.

Ervana Trikarinaputri, Jakarta – A coalition of Indonesian civil society groups has condemned what it described as repressive actions and the use of violence by Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel against civilians in North Aceh, warning that the incident risks undermining constitutional rights and reviving past trauma in the conflict-prone region.

Ervana Trikarinaputri, Jakarta – Personnel from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) have been accused of using violence against civilians involved in a humanitarian aid convoy to Aceh Tamiang, an area affected by flooding.

Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – Activists in Indonesia's Aceh province have alleged that security forces assaulted members of a humanitarian convoy in North Aceh on Thursday night, December 25, 2025, as they called on the central government to declare a national disaster status for the region.

Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf has officially extended the disaster emergency response status for all regencies and cities hit by floods and landslides last November. The emergency status, originally set to end on December 25, 2025, will now continue until January 8, 2026.

Bangun Santoso and Faqih Fathurrahman – Repressive actions by the authorities against a convoy of humanitarian volunteers who wanted to distribute aid for flood victims in Krueng Mane, North Aceh, on Thursday evening December 25 has attracted strong criticism.

Dani Aswara, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the police dispersed a group of people flying the banned Free Aceh Movement (GAM) flag in Meunasah Mee Village, Muara Dua District, Lhokseumawe, on Thursday afternoon, December 25, 2025.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – The Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, has called for an independent investigation into violence by the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) against Acehnese civilians displaying the symbols of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Responding to the phenomenon of people raising white flags in Aceh amidst the poor handling of aid for victims of the ecological disaster on Sumatra Island, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said:

Dinda Shabrina, Jakarta – Mukhlis Takabeya, the regent of Aceh regency of Bireuen, said his government has yet to receive any assistance from foreign governments, and subsequently, none are rejected.

"No aid has been rejected," Mukhlis said when confirmed on Friday, December 19, 2025.

Sultan Abdurrahman, Jakarta – In Aceh, Indonesia, residents are raising white flags along roadsides in the wake of severe floods and landslides, sending a message to both local authorities and the international community.

Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf, commonly known as Mualem, explained that the white flags reflect solidarity, empathy, and the pressing desire for aid.

Cut Nauval, Banda Aceh – The Civil Society Coalition held a peaceful action in front of the Aceh People's Representative Council (DPRA) offices on Tuesday December 16 urging the central government to declare the floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra as a national disaster.

Sultan Abdurrahman, Jakarta – Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf has once again received international assistance to cope with the devastating floods and landslides in his region. On Monday night, Muzakir personally welcomed foreign aid in the form of basic necessities donated by the multinational energy company, Upland Resources.

Dian Rahma Fika, Jakarta – Three weeks after devastating flash floods and landslides, residents in Aceh are raising white flags along the Trans-Sumatra highway, symbolizing their distress. These flags are hoisted on wooden poles along the crucial road connecting Aceh Tamiang Regency and Langsa City.

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf has declared a state of emergency due to floods and landslides in several regions of Aceh Province over the past week.

Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Aceh Barat Regency recorded that a total of 3,866 people from 2,652 households have been affected by the flood for three days since November 25, 2025. The water, reaching a height of 1.5 meters, submerged at least seven sub-districts in the regency.

Zacharias Wuragil, Jakarta – Storms rarely make landfall in Aceh.

Hammam Izzuddin, Jakarta – Indonesia's Aceh Regional Police has established 94 drug-free villages (KBDN) across all regencies and cities. The Aceh Police Chief Inspector General Marzuki Ali Barsyah stated that these villages could serve as centers for narcotics education and early detection by involving the community.

Thresa Sandra Desfika, Jakarta – Nagan Cipta Nusantara (NCN) has unveiled plans to develop a dedicated coal terminal port and a 10-kilometer hauling road in Nagan Raya, Aceh, with an investment of Rp 1.4 trillion ($8.4 million). The announcement was made at the Coaltrans Asia 2025, Asia's largest coal industry conference and exhibition, held on Sept.

Banda Aceh – A gay couple were punished with a sentence of 76 lashes each in public at Bustanussalatin Park in the Acehnese provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Tuesday August 26. The two men with the initials QH (20) and RA (21) were punished after being arrested by a patrol in the Taman Sari toilet last April.

Responding to today's caning of two men in the city of Banda Aceh for having consensual same-sex sexual relations, Amnesty International's Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer said:

Aimee Gabay, Jakarta – Some of the world's biggest consumer brands are banding together to tackle deforestation in one of Earth's richest biodiversity hotspots in Indonesia.

Jakarta – This month 20 years ago, the world witnessed something rare: The successful resolution of a decades-long separatist conflict in Southeast Asia's largest nation.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – "If you run, you are shot. If you don't, you are beaten," a 20-year-old Acehnese man said about life in the region, as reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2003, two years after president Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law to maintain order in the province following years of failed peace negotiations.

Today marks 20 years since the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), establishing a peace agreement between the two parties.

Salman Mardira, Banda Aceh, Aceh – Aceh Governor Muzakir "Mualem" Manaf has urged residents to refrain from hoisting the province's crescent-and-star flag during this week's commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Aceh peace agreement.

Banda Aceh – A gay couple who were apprehended by officials in the Sari Park toilet in the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh with the initials QH (20) and RA (21) were sentenced to 80 lashes by a panel of judges of the Banda Aceh Islamic Court on Monday August 11.

Associated Press, Banda Aceh – An Islamic Shariah court in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province on Monday sentenced two men to public caning 80 times each after Islamic religious police caught them engaged in what the court deemed were sexual acts.

The Bumi Flora (Earth of Flowers) Tragedy occurred exactly 24 years ago. This tragedy was a mass murder of workers at the company PT Bumi Flora – a palm oil plantation located in Julok, East Aceh regency on August 9, 2001. The incident allegedly occurred due to the prolonged and tense conflict between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Cut Mery, Jakarta – An employee of the Banda Aceh City Government has been arrested by the Indonesian National Police's Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) Anti-Terror Unit for alleged links to a terrorist network.

Alif Ilham Fajriadi, Jakarta – The President of the Student Senate of the State Islamic University of Ar-Raniry, Teuku Raja Aulia Habibi, rejected the plan to establish a Territorial Battalion by the Indonesian National Army (TNI) in Aceh.

Adi Warsidi, Jakarta – The Indonesian government officially inaugurated the construction of the Memorial Living Park built on the former site of the Rumoh Geudong Static Post during the military operation area (DOM) in Gampong Bili, Glumpang Tiga District, Pidie Regency, Aceh, on Thursday, July 10, 2025.

Banda Aceh – A number of residents from the Aceh People's Alliance have opposed and challenged the establishment of Territorial Development Battalions in five areas and have asked the Indonesian Army (TNI AD) to return the management of the Blang Padang land donated for religious use (wakaf) to the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque.

Jakarta – National unity faced an impromptu challenge recently when a dispute erupted between the country's two westernmost provinces after the Home Ministry issued a regulation that placed the four border islands of Lipan, Panjang, Mangkir Besar and Mangkir Kecil, which had been part of Aceh jurisdiction for decades, under North Sumatra, citing their geographic proximity to the nei

Dian Rahma Fika, Jakarta – The Wali Nanggroe of Aceh Malik Mahmud Al Haythar hopes for the endorsement of regulations regarding the raising of the Aceh flag. He expressed this after the central government of Indonesia returned four islands that were previously disputed with North Sumatra to Aceh.

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – President Prabowo has ruled that the four islands previously disputed between Aceh and North Sumatra fall under Aceh's jurisdiction. The decision was made based on a review of official government administrative documents.

Iil Askar Mondza, Banda Aceh – Former Chairperson of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Otto Nur Abdullah, asserted that Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian's decision to include four islands near Singkil Regency, Aceh, into the territory of North Sumatra has the potential to ignite a new conflict in Tanah Rencong (Aceh).

Iil Askar Monza, Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – The Aceh Provincial Government has banned students from leaving the residences after 10 p.m. local time, with the exception of urgent matters.

The curfew is regulated under the Circular Letter of the Aceh Education Office Number 400.3.8/5936 of 2025 concerning the control of students' activities during nighttime.

Alfitria Nefi P, Jakarta – The Directorate General of Corrections confirmed that dozens of inmates escaped from the Class II B Correctional Institution in Kutacane, Southeast Aceh, on Monday, March 10, 2025. Following the incident, the prison is now under control, with security reinforced by the police, military, and local authorities.

Two men suspected of having a gay sex are canned in Aceh, the only Indonesian province with strict Sharia laws

Global rights group Amnesty International has criticized the recent flogging of two Indonesian men for having a consensual same-sex relationship as a "horrifying act of discrimination."

Jordan Hirst – Human rights groups have slammed a conservative province in Indonesia for publicly flogging two men convicted of having consensual gay sex in a "horrifying act of discrimination".

Earlier in the week, the two university students in Indonesia's Aceh province for having consensual same-sex sexual relations.

Jakarta – The Banda Aceh Public Order Agency and Wilayatul Hisbah (Satpol PP WH), or "sharia police", plans to intensify monitoring during of Ramadan to prevent violations of Islamic law under a mandate from the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), according to the agency's duty chief.

Responding to the flogging of two university students in Indonesia's Aceh province for having consensual same-sex sexual relations, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Montse Ferrer said:

Taufik Kelana, Banda Aceh – Two men were publicly caned in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province on Thursday after being convicted of engaging in same-sex relations under the province's strict Islamic law. The punishment, carried out at Taman Sari in Baiturrahman District, drew public attention.