Iraqi Kurds gather during a demonstration demanding the end of coronavirus lockdown in the city of Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, June 2, 2020. Photo: AFP
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Erbil and Sulaimani provinces in Iraqi Kurdistan will lift the newly-established coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown four days early, following protests by locals across parts of the Kurdistan Region, desperate to reopen their businesses after months of closures.
Both respective provincial governments announced Tuesday, just a day after the latest lockdown began, that most movement restrictions would be lifted at 6 pm on Wednesday.
All public and private spaces, including hotels, restaurants, gyms, will be permitted to reopen in the two provinces, but under strict health guidelines, including the mandatory use of masks and gloves, the governors
“A full lockdown is still in place between the Kurdistan Region’s provinces, as well as between the Kurdistan Region and other Iraqi provinces,” Firsat Sofi, governor of Erbil province announced at a press conference Tuesday.
Sulaimani province governor, Haval Abu Bakir, also declared earlier in the day that the provincial lockdown would be lifted on Wednesday at the same time.
Sofi also reported the death of another person with coronavirus in Erbil province on Tuesday, but did not provide further details on the case. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health ministry later announced that it was a 70-year-old man that died in the Erbil suburb of Ankawa.
The KRG’s interior ministry imposed a full six-day lockdown on Monday, following the confirmation of over 100 cases of COVID-19 across Iraqi Kurdistan Region – the highest single-day total it has ever recorded. According to the decree, all non-emergency travel is prohibited, exempting only media, medical teams, and security forces.
However, the lockdown resulted in protests in Sulaimani districts of Darbandikhan, Ranya and Qaldize on Monday as local business owners demanded the end of coronavirus-related closures just hours after the new lockdown was imposed. Protests continued in the city of Sulaimani on Tuesday.
Ranya Mayor Hiawa Qarani said the protesters are “angry because of the lockdown and closure of their shops and markets.”
“Such measures have been taken for their own safety,” Qarani said. “We will be dealing with the situation per the health status of people in the region.”
“We are in Raniya. We will neither commit to the lockdown, nor close our shops. Who are you to tell us what to do?” Facebook user Hawre M Azeez wrote on Rudaw Sorani’s page on Monday.
New Generation Movement leader joins protests in Sulaimani, reaffirms support for their demands
New Generation Movement President Shaswar Abdulwahid joined a protest in Sulaimani on Tuesday against the government’s handling of the dual crisis of the coronavirus outbreak and deteriorating economic conditions in the Kurdistan Region.
During a short speech, he reaffirmed his support for the protesters and their demands that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) relax coronavirus curfew restrictions so that they could reopen their shops and go back to work.
“Every political side and force should support you,” Abdulwahid said, accusing the other parties of sitting on the sidelines.
“These protests are the protests of the people. The power of the nation is much stronger than the power of weapons. If we fight with the force of weapons, we will only let the poor people’s sons die,” he continued.
“We should fight them using a force they do not know, which is the force of the people,” Abdulwahid added.
The New Generation leader echoed a call he made over the weekend for larger, more general protests, saying that today’s demonstration was only aimed at reopening Sulaimani’s main bazaar.
Tuesday’s demonstration followed on from rallies in Darbandikhan, Ranya, and Qaladze the previous night against reimposition of a coronavirus curfew on Monday. The KRG insisted that the curfew was necessary because of the a surge in the number of coronavirus cases over the past three weeks.
In the morning, shop owners in Darbandikhan and Ranya opened their shops in defiance of the curfew and spread to several locations in Sulaimani city, Erbil, and Kalar.
Nearly 250 shop owners and workers in Sulaimani’s Mawlawi and Goran streets protested outside the main bazaar, demanding that they be able to reopen their shops.
However, as the day progressed the protest in Sulaimani steadily grew until a few hundred had gathered in front of the Sulaimani Palace Hotel, which is normally one of the busiest intersections in the city.
Three people have died from coronavirus in the past 24-hour, bringing the total number of death to 10.
So far, and according to the KRG ministry of health there have been 746 cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan. A total of 432 patients have recovered, and 10 people have died.
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