College graduates in southern Iraq protest unemployment

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

Hundreds of university graduates in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar province staged a protest on Wednesday to demand employment opportunities.

Demonstrators gathered outside the provincial headquarters in Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar’s regional capital, where they demanded that local authorities make good on earlier promises to provide 5,500 new public-sector jobs.

“Hundreds of college graduates protested today outside the provincial headquarters to demand jobs, for which everyone should have the right to apply,” protester Karim Hatem told Anadolu Agency by phone.

In recent weeks, Iraq’s southern Shia-majority provinces have been rocked by a series of popular protests, which at one point spread to capital Baghdad.

Demonstrators demand more job opportunities, better public services, and an end to perceived government corruption.