Protests erupt in Duhok in response to closing IDP schools
Shafaq News/ Hundreds of displaced students and their families took to the streets of Dohuk on Thursday to protest the decision by the Iraqi federal Ministry of Education to close their schools in the Kurdistan Region. The demonstrators, who gathered at the front gate of the Ministry's office in Duhok, held signs and chanted slogans condemning the decision and asserting their right to education as Iraqi citizens regardless of their displacement status.
One of the protest organizers told Shafaq News Agency, "we reject the decision to close the schools. We are Iraqi citizens, and our children have the right to education anywhere in Iraq."
"Those families have been living in Dohuk for years, and the schools here are good, with dedicated teachers," a parent said, "Mosul suffers from a shortage of schools, and we prefer to stay in Dohuk."
On February 22, a similar protest took place in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, with dozens of displaced residents and students demonstrating against the closure of the Ministry's Erbil office.
On February 14, 2024, the Iraqi federal Ministry of Education issued a decision to close its offices in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk, citing the Iraqi Cabinet's decision to close all displacement camps. The Cabinet has set a deadline of July 30, 2024, for the closure of the camps and the return of all displaced persons. Based on this decision, the Ministry of Education decided to close its offices in the three governorates.
