Protests sweep Iraq’s south and north over unpaid wages, water crisis
Shafaq News – Maysan / Basra / Kirkuk (Updated on October 7 at 11:17 a.m.)
Protests erupted across Iraq’s provinces
of Maysan and Basra, and Kirkuk over unpaid wages and worsening water
shortages, with demonstrators staging sit-ins and blocking key roads.
Unpaid teachers staged a protest
outside the provincial building in Kirkuk on Tuesday, demanding contracts after
years of voluntary work. One demonstrator told Shafaq News that many depend on
teaching as their only income and vowed to continue the sit-in until the
Ministry of Education responds.
A day earlier, dozens of contract
employees gathered outside the Maysan Provincial Council building, demanding
payment of salaries delayed for nine months. Protesters urged government action
and warned of escalation if their dues were not released.
Local officials told our agency that
the payments are expected to be “processed within a week and delivered
retroactively.”
In oil-rich Basra, residents of
al-Deir continued their sit-in for a third consecutive day, blocking access to
the Majnoon and al-Fayhaa oil fields. The protest began last Thursday when
locals shut down the main Baghdad–Basra highway over severe water shortages.
The movement’s leader told Shafaq
News that residents face “acute water scarcity and rising salinity,” urging
both the central and local governments to install an emergency water pipeline
from al-Qurna or through the Japanese-funded water project.
Read more: Iraq’s southern drought: Policy paralysis and
upstream pressures deepen rural collapse
He warned that prolonged inaction
could force further escalation, saying the crisis “is a matter of life and death” and that
residents will not back down until their rights are met.
