Sulaymaniyah Teachers, Civil Servants Take Protests to Erbil

Agencies

The protestors.

A group of teachers and civil servants of the Kurdistan Region marched their way on Sunday, 9 February 2025, from Sulaymaniyah towards Erbil demanding salary reforms.

A group of educators and government employees have been staging a sit-in outside the United Nations office in Sulaymaniyah since 10 January 2025. Thirteen of them, including 3 women, went on a hunger strike since then, staying under a set-up tent in freezing cold weather. 

The demonstrators have began marching towards Erbil breaking through three security check points with only one left for them to reach Erbil. The security forces have been trying to prevent them from reaching Erbil. Their goal is to raise their demands and guarantee that their voices reach the authorities in the Kurdistan Region's capital.

One of the protesting teachers told PUKMEDIA: "A number of protesting teachers and civil servants from Sulaymaniyah and other cities and towns were on their way to Erbil to express their protests when they were stopped near the Degala checkpoint. However, the teachers decided to cross the security forces' barrier and pass through the Degala checkpoint."

The strikers are demanding for no more delays in salary distribution, Nationalisation (Tawtin) of civil servant salaries in the Kurdistan Regions, as well as financial and administrative rights, as they are holding the KRG accountable for decade-long inconsistent salary payments, with many months over the years still unpaid. The KRG has began distributing January salaries following agreement with Baghdad, skipping salaries of last December.

Nationalisation or Tawtin is the Iraqi Government's initiative to pay civil servant salaries through bank accounts. The initiative is aimed at modernising Iraq's financial infrastructure and boosting transparency in the public sector payroll system.

The Kurdistan Region's Prime Minister announced MyAccount as an alternative for Baghdad's Tawtin in 2023. However, civil servants in the Kurdistan Region support Tawtin because they are doubtful of the KRG's ability to pay the salaries sent by Baghdad to the Region's civil servants.



PUKMEDIA