Iraqi teachers stage mass protests over unpaid salaries in Sulaymaniyah, Halabja provinces

Thousands of educators in Sulaymaniyah and Halabja provinces, Iraq, took to the streets to demand their long-overdue salaries. This protest came after months of financial struggle for these teachers, and they issued a stern ultimatum, vowing not to return to their teaching duties until their wages are paid promptly.

The protesting teachers voiced two primary demands. Non-contract teachers called for secure, long-term positions, while permanent teachers insisted on the government disbursing their salaries for the months of August, September, and October.

These protests rippled across various locations in Iraq, with demonstrations in the city center of Sulaimani, Halabja city, Garmiyan, Raparin independent administrations, and the Koya district in eastern Erbil.

Civil servants in the Kurdistan Region had endured approximately three months without pay before a breakthrough agreement was reached in mid-September between Baghdad and Erbil. In this agreement, the federal government pledged to provide the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with 2.1 trillion Iraqi dinars to cover salaries for three months.

Despite Iraq’s commitment to disburse the 2.1 trillion dinars in three equal parts, aimed at covering salaries for September, October, and November, the KRG utilized the initial 700 billion dinar installment to compensate for July salaries, leaving many civil servants without pay for August as well.

The financial challenges faced by the KRG have been exacerbated by a hiring freeze, which they implemented due to their inability to meet their commitment to paying civil servant salaries promptly and completely for nearly a decade, primarily due to the ongoing financial crisis.

The economic turmoil in northern Iraq has intensified in recent months, with one of the main factors being Turkey’s suspension of crude oil flow through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to Ceyhan port in March, following a decision from a Paris arbitration court. This suspension has resulted in substantial financial losses amounting to billions of dollars for the KRG.