People of The Year: Heroes of The Haze THE FOREST fi res this year were the worst ever in more than a decade. Thousands of hotspots flared up in the provinces of Riau and South Sumatra, and even in central Kalimantan. The environmental disaster caused the death of 19 people and led thousands of local residents to abandon their homes and seek refuge in temporary shelters. But they were not alone. Groups of selfless and dedicated volunteers came to their rescue, either to help fi ght the fi res or provide medical assistance. Nine of these brave people were chosen to be TEMPO‘s People of the Year for taking the initiative and braving dangerous element to share in the plight of the victims. We salute these profi les in courage. 2015 In Review: Guest Columnists A kaleidoscope of this past year’s major events plus a bonus of interesting and revealing viewpoints by our guest witers on issues of security and terrorism, politics, the economy, foreign investment, the environment, the media industry and the insightful ponderings of transparency and open government guru, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, in a special interview. Outreach: Starting At The Source Not all Indonesian migrant workers go through the proper channels when they fi rst apply for overseas jobs. Many use the services of illegal agents or work without the required documents. Consequently, many of them run into problems, mostly about their documentation. This almost always happens because they start out unprepared and ill-informed, often the victims of unscrupulous recruiting agents. To help mitigate these problems, in November—a month before the International Migrants’ Day on December 18—the government, alongside NGOs like Migrant Care, launched the Migrant Workers’ Village (Desa Peduli Buruh Migran or Desbumi) initiative to provide services and assistance to people applying for jobs overseas. Tempo English reports from villages in West and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, where programs have empowered migrant workers.

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People of The Year , Heroes of The Haze ,