The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced that by decree of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, an order has been issued to employ nearly 775 medical graduates from the academic year 2023–2024 across the region’s universities.

According to the KRG’s statement, these doctors have been “employed under the framework of the Ministry of Health” and will receive appropriate titles, salaries, and benefits, all funded through the KRG’s local internal revenues.

The government explained that this decision was taken in response to the “urgent need of the Kurdistan Region’s health institutions for resident doctors.”

Dr. Shko Sherko, representative of the junior resident doctors in Erbil, told Channel8 that the official number of doctors awaiting employment was 781, but the government decree covered 775 individuals. He clarified, “The remaining six doctors were excluded because they do not hold Iraqi nationality, so their employment will be processed as special contracts.”

He further noted that immediately after the decision, the Ministry of Finance would begin processing their salaries. Dr. Sherko explained that the base salary for junior resident doctors is 374,000 Iraqi dinars, and with allowances, “the total monthly income reaches around 1,240,000 dinars.”

He added that the overall salary expense for these employees, funded from local revenue, would total nearly one billion Iraqi dinars per month.

This decree comes after months of protests and sit-ins by medical graduates. On June 18, 2025, during a cabinet meeting, the KRG had decided to resolve the issue by approving their employment through local revenue funds.