Haze from Indonesian wildfires affects Malaysia and Singapore with limited legal options
Smoke from Indonesian wildfires has blanketed neighboring Malaysia and Singapore for over a month, causing school closures and health issues while limiting legal recourse.
Regional impact on schools and health
Haze from Indonesian wildfires has blanketed neighboring Malaysia and Singapore for more than a month. This pollution crisis has closed schools and caused respiratory complaints to skyrocket in the affected areas.
Obstacles to International Court action
Experts say suggestions to take Indonesia to the International Court of Justice face a basic obstacle regarding jurisdiction. The court generally requires consent from both states, which Indonesia would be unlikely to give willingly on this issue.
Existing treaty limitations for neighbors
All three countries are parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, but the 2002 deal has no clause on litigation before the ICJ. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are neither signatories nor parties to the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.
All 2 outlets report consistently
No differences in figures, names or dates across these reports.
- Phys.org
- Dawn
Reported by
2 independent outlets. Headlines as published. Links open the original report.