The UN labour agency, ILO, says it is becoming increasingly concerned about working conditions in Iraq, where temperatures have soared to 50 degrees Celsius in recent weeks.
After his supporters stormed parliament and declared a sit-in, influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr dismissed calls for dialogue with an Iran-backed faction and called for the dissolution of the legislature.
With mattresses strewn about, food trucked in and protesters playacting as lawmakers, hundreds of followers of an influential Shiite cleric were camped out Sunday inside the Iraqi parliament after toppling security walls around the building and storming in the previous day.
Secretary-General António Guterres is “following with concern” ongoing protests in Iraq that have injured many people, according to his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq.
Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr penetrated Baghdad’s heavily fortified “Green Zone” and occupied parliament on Saturday in a deepening political crisis.
Followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have forced entry into parliament over Iran-backed political groups involved in forming the next government. Demonstrators tore down concrete barriers before entering the Green Zone.
Supporters of the Shiite cleric climbed into the fortified Green Zone before entering the parliament building. Iraq is in the midst of a political deadlock with no end in sight.
Turkey’s longstanding campaigns against Kurdish militants in Iraq and in Syria are under the spotlight after alleged Turkish strikes killed nine tourists in northern Iraq. It’s led to a new flaring of regional tensions.
The deadly shelling of a mountain resort in northern Iraq last week represented a shocking disregard for civilian life and international obligations on civilian protection, the UN Special Representative for the country, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the Security Council on Tuesday.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), has strongly condemned the shelling of a mountain resort in the Kurdistan region of Dohuk Governorate on Wednesday, which reportedly killed eight tourists and wounded more than 20 others.