Medical graduates protest hiring delays in Baghdad
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Hundreds of medical and health graduates rallied outside Iraq's Ministry of Finance in Baghdad on Wednesday, caught in a bind that leaves them unable to work: barred by law from private practice until they complete government service, yet still waiting for the state to hire them.
Iraqi law bars graduates of medical, health, and pharmacy colleges from working in the private sector until they finish at least two consecutive years of mandatory service and training in public institutions. Under the Law on the Career Progression of Medical and Health Professionals, No. 6 of 2000, a permanent license to practice depends on completing that supervised period in hospitals and clinics run by the Ministry of Health. With few state appointments coming through, many graduates can do neither.
Read more: Medics press Baghdad and Erbil for urgent action
The protesters urged the ministry to issue their appointment orders and fund their posts in the national budget, or else let them work privately. Large numbers remain unhired, they said, even as hospitals and clinics are short of medical staff.
The demonstration followed several days of similar protests by earlier graduating classes outside the ministry, some of which turned into scuffles with security forces.
"عيّنونا او اسمحوا لنا بالعمل في القطاع الخاص".. خريجو #المهن_الطبية_والصحية يتظاهرون أمام مبنى #وزارة_المالية في #بغداد#شفق_نيوز #العراق #اخبار pic.twitter.com/8npTamFoJT
— شفق نيوز - shafaq news (@shafaqnewsarb) September 9, 2026
The graduates said they would continue their peaceful campaign until the government responded, calling for fair treatment of previous graduating classes and urgent action to clear the backlog of appointments.
Read more: Iraq: 250K graduates annually amid 20% youth unemployment
