Shafaq News- Basra
Workers at the Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) project began an open-ended sit-in outside the Southern Refineries Company in Iraq’s Basra province on Sunday, calling for reinstatement and permanent contracts with the Oil Ministry after security forces dispersed their protest earlier in the day.
The workers have been protesting the issue for about two years, seeking a resolution to their employment status since their work on the FCC project ended.
Earlier today, Ahmed Shakir, a representative of the protesters, told Shafaq News that four demonstrators were injured when security forces forcibly dispersed the protest. The injuries affected different parts of their bodies, including one worker who suffered a broken leg, while five others were arrested.
Implemented by Japan’s JGC Corporation and financed through a concessional loan of nearly $4 billion from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the FCC complex entered operation on Jan. 31, 2026, with a refining capacity of 55,000 barrels per day.