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Kirkuk medical graduates protest over public sector employment

2024-09-01 | 17:30

KIRKUK – Medical graduates from across Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region took to the streets on Sunday, protesting the Iraqi government’s decision to employ only half of the eligible graduates despite a legal mandate that guarantees employment for all. This marks the second time the group has gathered outside the Kirkuk Health Directorate to voice their frustrations.

Under Law No. 6 of 2000, particularly Article 3, the government is required to employ all medical graduates, including those in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, in the public sector to address the country’s healthcare needs. However, the recent decision to hire only a portion of these graduates has sparked widespread anger.

The protest in Kirkuk is part of a broader wave of demonstrations across Iraq. On August 19, medical professionals in Baghdad demanded the government fulfill its promise of over 30,000 job positions in the 2024 budget. While 29,000 positions have been filled, another 30,000 graduates, including dentists, pharmacists, technicians, and laboratory analysts, remain unemployed. The Ministry of Health has labeled these fields as “currently unnecessary.”

Rewa Omer, a medical graduate from the Kurdistan Region, expressed her frustration to 964media, stating, “We are simply asking the government to honor Article 3 of Law No. 6, which ensures employment for all medical graduates. There are 59,000 of us across Iraq, but the Minister of Health has only committed to employing 29,000.”

Janat Muzaffar, who holds a degree in epidemiology, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the law clearly mandates job placements for all graduates. “The employment process has only begun for 29,000 of us, including 4,000 here in Kirkuk, but what about the rest?” she asked.

The issue has also drawn criticism from the Health Professions Syndicate. On August 20, Alaa Al-Maliki, the syndicate’s head, publicly condemned the government’s approach, accusing the finance minister of treating the graduates with “arrogance and condescension.” He suggested that the employment of the current 29,000 graduates be postponed until the end of the year, with all 59,000 graduates being employed at the start of the following year.

Al-Maliki also criticized the Ministry of Higher Education for the “chaotic” expansion of private colleges without regard for the actual demand for healthcare professionals, exacerbating the unemployment crisis among medical graduates.