Basra medical students resume sit-in after ministry denies dean’s removal

BASRA — Medical students at the University of Basra resumed an open-ended sit-in at their college on Monday, demanding the dismissal of Dean Nofal Mubarak over alleged mismanagement, after the Higher Education Ministry denied reports that he had been removed.

Students gathered inside the college in the morning chanting, “The people want the dean removed” and “We don’t want him, we don’t want him, the dean must be dismissed.” They had been assured on Sunday that their demands, including Mubarak’s removal, would be met, they said, before the ministry issued a formal denial that evening.

At Sunday’s protest, students demanded Mubarak’s removal, better campus facilities and changes to disciplinary rules, complaining about the closure of the cafeteria, poor rest areas, neglected gardens and what they called mistreatment and verbal abuse by some university staff. They also challenged decisions to fail students over attendance; one protester said more than 1,000 had been failed about two months before their exams without warning. Students said they had raised their concerns with the college for three years without result.

After Sunday’s demonstration, an academic source said the ministry had suspended Mubarak and appointed Jassim Mohammed Dhiabi as acting dean. The ministry then said reports on social media of his dismissal or suspension were inaccurate and not based on official information. Higher Education Minister Haider Bahaa al-Husseini, approved by parliament last week, had spoken by phone with a student representative, together with University of Basra President Aqeel Fahim al-Dahan, and the representative had agreed to end the strike and return to classes, the ministry said.

Basra Provincial Council Chairman Khalaf Lafta al-Badran visited Sunday’s protest, met students and discussed their demands with the university president, urging dialogue between the administration and students to keep teaching going, the council said. Students at Monday’s sit-in said Mubarak’s removal remained their central demand and that the protest would continue.