People protest against unemployment and grievances in public administration in Iraq. Picture by Ameer Al Mohammedaw/DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved. As was the case in 2015 and 2011, this movement of protest started in the oil-rich province of Basra. This province suffers from a shortage of drinking water and electricity, high unemployment in addition to pollution, sanitary and health crisis that cause a proliferation of cancers.
As the summer heat is reaching 125°F/50°C, the spontaneous movement of protest spreading in the Shi‘a south is showing its determination to stay away from formal political groups and any centralized organization. Composed predominantly of young men, its slogans are clear and go beyond the call for functioning state services. From sentences such as “there is no homeland!” to the slogan “No, no, no to parties !”, protestors call for radical political change.
Towards a military regime?
An essential feature of the protest movement is its violent repression by the Iraqi security forces and its attendant armed groups and militias led by members of the Iraqi political elite. 27 year old father of 3 children, Hayder al-Maliki was killed in June 2010 in Basra city center. Muntather al-Hilfi, 17 years old was killed in a township, north of Basra. Both were unemployed and peacefully demonstrating for electricity and state services when they were killed by Iraqi security forces. Their deaths pushed the local population to take to the streets and led to the spread of massive protests across the country.
