Shafaq News – Basra

Graduates in oil-related specializations protested on Wednesday in front of the Basra Oil Company, where they lowered its flag and closed its entrances.

The move comes after seven months of continuous protests demanding employment opportunities.

Hassan al-Shawi, a representative for the protesters, told Shafaq News that the flag would remain lowered and the entrances would be completely closed until their demands were met.

He clarified that these demands include providing them with job opportunities, even on a daily wage basis, within profitable companies affiliated with the Ministry of Oil, calling for foreign and local companies operating in oil fields to hire only residents of the Basra province, similar to the policy in Dhi Qar.

Al-Shawi added that the protesters also demanded the activation of sub-employment offices in districts and sub-districts after the central office was dissolved, stating that these offices have turned into "useless caravans."

"Favoritism and nepotism still obstruct providing job opportunities for young people, and the FCC refinery project is the clearest evidence of that," he said, stressing that "more escalatory steps will be conducted until our demands are met and the policy of marginalization ends."

Earlier, dozens of former workers from the Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit project blocked the main gate of the South Refineries Company in Basra on Monday, escalating a protest movement now in its fifth month.