Iraqi Kurdistan: Delayed Pay for Doctors Who Fighted Coronavirus

Text by: Oriane Verdier Follow

In northern Iraq, the region of Iraqi Kurdistan claims to have conquered the coronavirus epidemic. The strict confinement rules are gradually being relaxed and the population is now expressing its anger. Civil servants, doctors for example, have not received any salary since the start of the year.

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In some hospitals in the city of Souleymanieh doctors are in short supply due to strikes. "  We have given everything against the coronavirus, we now demand to be paid, " they hammer. The government of the Kurdish autonomous region has paid its civil servants only sporadically for years, but since January 2020 no salaries have been paid.

This week with the easing of the curfew, the demonstrations multiplied in the area of ​​Souleymanieh, organized mainly by the professors who denounce the corruption of the political elites. On peshmerga social media, Kurdish fighters joined the movement. This month, generals have also been laid off for denouncing these late payments.

Thursday, April 23, the authorities of the province of Souleymanieh met to find a solution. They called on the Kurdistan government not to use the coronavirus as a new excuse for the current crisis. They also discussed the possibility of calling on Baghdad to pay all these workers in need.

►Read also: Severe confinement in Iraqi Kurdistan to stem the spread of the coronavirus

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• Iraq
• Coronavirus
• Employment and Work