Baghdad-Babil highway closed during graduate job protests

Shafaq News- Babil/ Baghdad (Updated at 12:38)

Iraq's security forces shut the main highway linking Babil province to Baghdad after unemployed graduates gathered to demand government jobs, Shafaq News learned on Monday.

A local source reported that protesters had assembled near Hilla, the provincial capital. Video footage showed security forces stopping dozens of buses carrying graduates from Babil and other provinces from entering Baghdad to join the demonstrations.

The protests also reached central Baghdad, where graduates gathered for a second day in Al-Alawi and Al-Salihiya to press their demands. Another security source told Shafaq News that both areas were closed to vehicles amid a heavy security deployment, causing severe traffic congestion nearby.

The Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs estimates that around one million Iraqis are registered as unemployed, while youth unemployment stands at about 32%. Nearly 40% of the workforce is employed by the public sector, where salaries account for almost half of the federal budget. A 2025 Ministry of Finance report placed public-sector wages at roughly 55 trillion Iraqi dinars out of 106.75 trillion dinars in government current spending, underscoring the state’s heavy fiscal reliance on public employment.

Read more: Iraq: 250K graduates annually amid 20% youth unemployment