Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs imposes pesantren licensing moratorium amid sexual abuse case

The modern pesantren Ibadurrahman in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan, has agreed to halt new student admissions from the 2026/27 academic year and has submitted its fate to the Ministry of Religious Affairs after a sexual‑abuse scandal was uncovered. Acting head Ainul Hurry said the institution will "accept whatever decision the Ministry makes" and will allow existing students to complete their studies.

Separately, the regional office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) announced a moratorium on issuing new permits for pesantren. The move aims to evaluate the quality of the roughly 1,000 existing institutions in the province, with the central Ministry retaining ultimate authority over licensing. Although the policy comes amid public scrutiny of abuse cases, the NTB spokesperson Zamroni Aziz stressed it is not a direct response to those incidents but a broader effort to improve oversight and close gaps where offenders have been identified.