Medical graduates renew protests in Baghdad for public sector employment

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of medical graduates marched through Baghdad on Tuesday, demanding employment under Medical Graduation Law No. 6 of 2000. The protesters, including graduates in medicine, health, and nursing, began their march in the Al-Salihiyah area and advanced toward the Green Zone, home to government buildings and foreign embassies.

The demonstration was met with a significant police presence, with riot officers encircling the protesters. As the march reached Al-Shawaf Park, just outside the Green Zone, security forces intervened to disperse the crowd, escalating tensions.

Footage from the scene shows riot police using water cannons and batons against the protesters. According to sources in Baghdad, more than 25 protesters were injured in the clashes. Demonstrators have since called on Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani to address their demands for employment and recognition of their rights under the law.

This protest follows a similar demonstration on Aug. 19, where riot police injured multiple medical graduates outside the Ministry of Finance. The graduates were demanding the fulfillment of over 30,000 job positions promised in the 2024 budget, which was part of a broader commitment to allocate 60,000 public sector jobs. However, only 29,000 positions have been filled, leaving more than 30,000 graduates, including dentists, pharmacists, technicians, and laboratory analysts, unemployed. The Ministry of Health has deemed these fields currently unnecessary.

The use of force against medical graduates has been widely condemned across the political spectrum.

On Aug. 6, medical graduates in Mosul protested in front of the Nineveh Health Directorate, demanding employment in the public sector under the medical progression system without exceptions.

Mohammed Diyaa, a dental graduate, emphasized the need for the health authorities to honor their commitment to employ all medical school graduates. “We all studied and worked hard to be employed [by the government], and this decision contradicts the law,” Diyaa said.

This month, medical graduates from across Kirkuk against the Iraqi government’s decision to employ only half of the eligible graduates.