KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Nearly two weeks after devastating floods struck parts of Nepal and the Nepal-Tibet border, rescue and recovery efforts are continuing, with Malaysians among those still unaccounted for.

To date, at least 1,300 people have been killed and more than 5,500 remain missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet region.

Here is what we know so far about the Malaysians still unaccounted for and Malaysia’s response.

On August 26, a torrent of water, mud and rocks swept through communities in Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region following a glacial collapse, causing an estimated Rs387.54 billion (RM10.3 billion) in damage, according to preliminary findings by the Nepalese government.

Immediately after the disaster, Wisma Putra initially confirmed that 55 Malaysian nationals reported to the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu as uncontactable due to severe disruptions in communications and electricity networks.

On August 29, the ministry further confirmed 36 Malaysians were reported as uncontactable in areas affected by telecommunications disruptions in China.

As of September 7, however, the ministry’s official records show that 55 Malaysians remain uncontactable, with verification efforts continuing through diplomatic channels with the Chinese government to determine whether reports of Malaysians in Nepal overlap with those in Tibet.

Among those reported uncontactable were Special Airborne Fire and Rescue Team (PASKUB) Senior Fire Officer II Mohd Fakhrul Munir Mohd Isa and eight other members of his expedition team, including Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) deputy director of the Fire and Rescue Operations Division Mohd Sani Harul.

The group was reported missing after the four-wheel-drive vehicle they were using during an expedition to Everest Base Camp was believed to have been affected by flooding while travelling through a valley in Rasuwa.

Others missing include 49 Malaysian citizens across three tour groups who travelled to Nepal for trekking and religious activities, including Hindu pilgrimages.

Malaysian relief

On September 5, the National Disaster Management Agency deployed an 11-member Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to Nepal to assist in ongoing rescue and disaster relief operations.

The 11-member team will use high-capacity drones and specialised equipment to support operations led by the Nepalese authorities in areas requiring technical expertise and specialised operational capabilities.

In Malaysia, preparations for victim identification are also underway, including the collection and analysis of DNA samples from next of kin by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and the Department of Chemistry Malaysia, in coordination with the ministry.

Other Malaysian teams and organisations are also responding to the disaster, including a five-member team from United Sikhs Malaysia, a Malaysian humanitarian aid organisation involved in disaster relief and community assistance.

Mercy Malaysia has also deployed a humanitarian assessment team to Nepal to assess ground conditions and identify urgent needs, including emergency shelter, food, clean water, sanitation and healthcare.

In addition, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also pledged US$1 million in humanitarian aid to assist flood victims and support post-disaster recovery efforts.

BINTULU (Sept 8): The recurring haze linked to peat and forest fires highlights a deeper issue involving peatland management, water, climate, fire and public health, said the Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak (UPMS) Institute of Ecosystem Science Borneo (IEB).

“Behind the smoke is a bigger story. One that connects peatland, water management, land-use change, fire, air pollution, human health and climate,” it said in a statement.

The institute stressed that what happens in Kalimantan does not necessarily remain there, as smoke can travel across large areas depending on wind and atmospheric conditions, affecting neighbouring countries.

“Kalimantan’s peatlands are unique ecosystems formed over thousands of years, with organic matter accumulating under waterlogged conditions and storing significant amounts of carbon.

However, it said water was critical to keeping peatlands stable.

“When peatlands are drained, groundwater levels fall. The peat becomes exposed to oxygen, decomposition increases and more carbon is released. As the peat dries, it also becomes much more vulnerable to fire.”

This means a peat fire could begin long before flames become visible, with changes in the water regime creating the conditions for peat to dry out and become highly flammable, it said.

IEB said human activities contributed to the majority of fires in Indonesia, with fire sometimes used as a relatively cheap and easy method of clearing land.

“Research in Kalimantan also showed that fire occurrence was influenced by climate, land type and livelihoods.

“Dry conditions associated with El Niño could further worsen the situation by reducing rainfall and drying already degraded or drained peatlands,” it said.

The institute stressed, however, that El Niño did not cause fires on its own, but could create conditions that allowed fires to spread and persist.

“Once peat catches fire, the problem moves from the ground into the air. Peat fires release particulate matter and gases, including fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which is particularly concerning because the particles can penetrate deep into the respiratory system,” it said.

Citing research from Central Kalimantan, the institute said a study examining peatland fires between 2011 and 2015 estimated that peat fires increased annual mean PM2.5 concentrations by about 26 micrograms per cubic metre.

The study also linked long-term exposure to increased risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as premature mortality.

The institute said the health consequences were ultimately felt by communities, with people breathing polluted air, children spending less time outdoors and families having to alter their daily routines because of haze.

Against this backdrop, the institute called for greater emphasis on prevention rather than relying solely on fire fighting after fires have already started.

It said maintaining appropriate water levels, protecting remaining peatlands, restoring degraded areas and strengthening fire and air-quality monitoring were crucial.

“Fire suppression will always be necessary when fires occur. But prevention starts much earlier,” it said.

Technology could also play a greater role through satellite observations, early-warning systems and artificial intelligence to identify high-risk areas and hotspots more quickly.

The institute stressed that the issue was not confined to Indonesia, noting that Malaysia also had peatland ecosystems important for biodiversity and carbon storage.

It therefore called for continued regional cooperation in addressing peatland fires and transboundary haze.

“After decades of recurring haze, perhaps the most important lesson is simple, the response should not begin when the smoke appears. The real work begins much earlier, beneath the surface in how peatlands are managed, how water is maintained and how risks are identified,” IEB said.

The institute said the haze seen today was ultimately a visible symptom of a problem that could have been developing beneath the surface for years.

“The haze is what we see. The deeper story begins long before the fire,” it added.

The catastrophic flooding in Nepal has demonstrated, once again, the devastating human and economic toll of climate change. The immediate priority must be to save lives and support affected communities. But the devastation also highlights how physical hazards can quickly morph into macroeconomic shocks.

These events have different causes, and no single disaster should be casually attributed to El Niño or climate change. Nonetheless, the World Meteorological Organization expects a strong El Niño to intensify from August through October, increasing the likelihood of above-normal temperatures in much of the world and major shifts in rainfall.

In Southeast Asia, El Niño often brings drier conditions and raises the risk of drought, wildfires, and haze, although its effects vary across countries and seasons.

For policymakers, the imperative is to prepare for the economic chain reactions triggered by extreme weather events.

Droughts, floods, and heat waves damage crops and infrastructure. In countries with inadequate food stocks, weak logistics, and concentrated import sources, lower production can lead to shortages, higher prices, and declining household purchasing power. Governments face pressure to subsidise prices or facilitate emergency imports, while central banks confront the difficult combination of supply-driven inflation and weaker demand.

Then comes the fiscal aftershock. If roads, ports, irrigation systems, schools, and hospitals cannot be repaired or replaced in a timely manner, temporary disruptions can turn into a permanent drag on productive capacity. Governments may be forced to divert spending from development, borrow at short notice, or wait for external assistance. A post-disaster financing gap can all too easily become a long-lasting economic slump.

When disaster strikes, countries must be prepared not only to limit physical damage, but also to reduce economic downtime, maintain essential public services, contain financial stress, and prevent short-term losses from weakening long-term growth. A robust, rapid recovery requires providing humanitarian support and stabilising macroeconomic conditions.

The scale of the challenge is staggering. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, direct disaster losses averaged US$180–200 billion annually between 2001 and 2020. When accounting for indirect, cascading, and ecosystem effects, the total annual cost rises to more than US$2.3 trillion.

Asia must be prepared. To that end, in May, finance ministers and central bank governors from Asean+3 countries (the Southeast Asian member states, plus China, Japan, and South Korea) endorsed the Disaster Risk Financing Initiative’s 2026–28 roadmap. This framework will help members develop national disaster-risk financing strategies and expand their use of insurance, catastrophe bonds, and other relevant instruments.

To be sure, prearranged financing cannot cover the full costs of a major disaster. Nor should insurance be expected to do so. Their value lies in providing reliable funding during the critical early stage of a crisis, when delays are most damaging, and governments have the least room to improvise.

For example, on September 1, the Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility, a regional platform under the umbrella of Asean+3, paid US$1 million to Laos within five business days after official data showed that more than 260,000 people had been affected by heavy rainfall and widespread flooding.

The right approach is to match financing to risk. Budget reserves and disaster funds can cover frequent, relatively small losses. Contingent credit may be used for medium-size shocks, while insurance and capital-market instruments should be reserved mainly for less frequent but fiscally severe events. To ensure that the funds reach affected communities quickly, governments must have effective social-protection systems and contingency plans.

This process converts uncertain post-disaster liabilities into risks that can be measured, priced, allocated, and, most importantly, managed in advance. When some of the recovery costs are prearranged, governments are less likely to increase taxes abruptly, slash public investment, resort to emergency borrowing, or delay aid. Fiscal exposure becomes more predictable, reducing uncertainty around public debt, inflation, and economic growth.

The benefits extend beyond government balance sheets. Such an approach also provides businesses and financial markets with greater clarity about post-disaster taxation, public-investment cuts, payment delays, and credit conditions. And it enables a quicker restoration of ports, roads, electricity, and communications, limiting disruption to regional supply chains. Across the closely integrated Asean+3 region, recovery in one economy helps preserve its neighbours’ stability.

The economics of climate change has reframed the role of disaster-risk finance. No longer merely a peripheral instrument that pays claims after an extreme weather event, it has become a policy lever that protects fiscal space and improves the medium-term outlook before a crisis occurs. Disaster-risk finance functions as a macroeconomic firewall for fiscal policy, financial stability, food security, social protection, and infrastructure planning, reducing both economic volatility and uncertainty about the recovery.

Asean+3 has spent decades building its regional financial safety net against currency and financial crises. As a strengthening El Niño threatens to take its toll on the region, the next task is clear: prevent natural disasters from becoming humanitarian, fiscal, and, ultimately, financial crises. With regional disaster-risk finance, governments will be in a better position to restart their economies, preserve fiscal space, and contain spillovers. That is what real resilience looks like in a warming world.

Yasuto Watanabe is Director and CEO of the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2026.
www.project-syndicate.org

Setakat ini, hampir 300,000 hektar kawasan atau lebih empat kali ganda keluasan Singapura hangus di Indonesia akibat kebakaran hutan dan tanah gambut yang di sana, disebut menggunakan singkatan (karhutla).

Bencana bukan alam semula jadi ini menyebabkan jerebu tebal menyelimuti kawasan luas di Pulau Borneo dan Sumatera, berminggu-minggu lamanya, malah asap kebakaran juga sampai ke Singapura, Filipina dan hampir terlupa, Malaysia.

Lebih lima juta orang di seluruh Borneo dan Sumatera terdedah secara langsung kepada jerebu, demikian menurut Timbalan Menteri Kesihatan, Dante Saksono Harbuwono pada bulan lalu.

Lebih 1.4 juta pelajar pula menghadiri pembelajaran secara online dengan banyak sekolah ditutup akibat kualiti udara merosot teruk.

Masalah jerebu masih berlaku walaupun Indonesia tidak asing dengan karhutla kerana sejarah aktiviti tebang dan bakar sebagai langkah murah membersihkan tanah untuk pertanian ini melangkaui berdekad-dekad lamanya dan berlaku semasa era Presiden Suharto lagi.

Bagaimanapun, kali ini, Jakarta sedikit ‘canggung’ dalam menangani karhutla walaupun berkali-kali mengalaminya.

Ketika api merebak di Kalimantan dan Sumatera, pemimpin Indonesia dilaporkan mengusulkan penggunaan tepung ubi kayu sebagai bahan pemadam kebakaran. Apabila penulis membaca tentang ini, penulis awalnya beranggapan ia berita palsu.

Namun, penelitian lanjut mendapati cadangan itu benar-benar berlaku. Sepanjang lebih dua dekad penulis membuat liputan mengenai kebakaran hutan besar khususnya di Australia, Eropah dan Amerika, ini kali pertama penulis melihat usul sebegini.

Ia adalah cadangan yang penulis boleh katakan, ‘pemikiran jauh di luar kotak’. Di masa hadapan, saintis-saintis mungkin boleh membuktikan bahawa tepung ubi kayu adalah bahan pemadam api yang efektif.

Penulis juga terbaca tentang pemerintah Indonesia mengarahkan pasukan komando melakukan terjunan di kawasan-kawasan titik panas untuk memadamkan kebakaran hutan. Di ruangan komentar, pelbagai pertanyaan diusulkan oleh netizen, khususnya apa yang dibawa oleh setiap komando dan bagaimana pula mereka akan keluar nanti?

Penulis juga melihat pentadbiran tempatan melepaskan pasukan bomba bersama jentera pemadam api ke lokasi kebakaran persis pelepasan acara ‘treasure hunt’.

Dalam keterbatasan penulisan ini, penulis ingin memberi cadangan ‘kolot lagi konservatif’ bagi membantu Indonesia menangani karhutla di masa hadapan seperti mewujudkan sistem amaran awal di zon kebakaran hutan dan membeli pesawat serta helikopter pemadam kebakaran.

Pemerintah juga boleh meningkatkan jentera, petugas dan persediaan lain di kawasan berisiko setiap kali musim pembersihan tanah tiba.