Indonesia tops a global list for mining abuse tied to China's metals

Indonesia's fast nickel boom has made it a key supplier for the world's electric cars and batteries. A new report says it has also made Indonesia the worst place for abuse tied to those metals. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, a group that tracks the mining industry, found that more abuse was recorded in Indonesia than in any other country inside China's supply chains for "critical minerals", the metals used in car batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. Nikkei Asia reported the findings on Wednesday.

The numbers are climbing fast. The group counted 329 "allegations" of harm worldwide in 2025, more than 70 percent higher than the year before. An allegation here means a documented complaint of damage, from dirty air and water to unsafe or unfair work. Indonesia topped the Asia-Pacific list with 45, ahead of Australia with 31 and China itself with 13. Most of the trouble sits in nickel and copper, and Indonesia's nickel industry, much of it Chinese-owned and built in just a few years, is at the center of it.

The worries go beyond pollution. The United States recently added Indonesian nickel to a list of goods linked to forced labor, after reports that Chinese migrant workers in Indonesian smelters had their passports taken and were paid less than promised. At the giant Morowali industrial park in Sulawesi, records show 15 workers died in accidents between 2018 and 2022. The findings hit Indonesia where it hoped to look best: its clean-energy metals.

Why it matters

If you live or work near the nickel towns of Sulawesi, this report puts a global spotlight on the pay, safety, and pollution around you. For the wider country, it is a warning: buyers in Europe and the United States increasingly check where their battery metals come from, and a bad name for abuse can cost Indonesia the very customers its nickel bet depends on. Watch whether Jakarta tightens rules at the smelters or waves the report away.