Curfew imposed in Iraq to conduct census

Last Updated on September 3, 2024 6:41 am

Census will be conducted in Iraq for the first time in 27 years. For this purpose, a two-day curfew will be issued across the country in November. Al Jazeera reported this information in a report on Sunday night.

According to reports, officials have confirmed that a two-day curfew will be imposed next November for the country’s first census in 27 years. The Prime Minister of the country, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, said in a statement on Sunday, “A curfew will be issued in all provinces of Iraq on November 20 and 21 to conduct the population census.”

Various measures have been approved for the process, including finalizing coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to train statistical staff ahead of the census, according to local media reports. Apart from this, support will be available from multiple ministries to provide classrooms and youth centers for staff training, the report said.

Iraq, wracked by decades of conflict and violence, has suspended the census several times before, Al-Jazeera said. In particular, the country suspended the census in 2010 due to tensions over disputed territory.

Before that, the last general census was conducted in 1997 in 15 provinces of Iraq. At that time the three northern provinces of the country were out of this census. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan region consists mainly of the three northern provinces. Meanwhile, Iraq has regained some semblance of stability in recent years despite sporadic violence and political instability. And for this reason, after 27 years, this is the first time the country has taken the initiative of census.

Currently, the country’s population is estimated to be around 4.3 million. In the past, Iraq conducted a census every 10 years. But after 1997, the next census could not be conducted in 2007. Because the country was embroiled in communal violence at that time.