With the signature of President Abdul Latif Rashid, Halabja has become Iraq's 19th province. This decision has great symbolic and historical significance, not only for the Kurdistan region, but for the whole of Iraq. A statement from the presidency said that the relevant law had been signed on Tuesday. The new status of Halabja formally came into effect with the issuance of a presidential decree.

Parliament passes law with clear majority

Last month, the Iraqi parliament voted by a clear majority to convert Halabja into a province. 178 members of parliament took part in the vote, which was the result of years of political efforts by Kurdish parties and local actors.

The initiative to make Halabja a province dates back to 2013, when the then Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), Nechirvan Barzani, first submitted the proposal to the government in Baghdad. Although the KRI parliament gave the green light in March 2014 and Halabja, which at the time still belonged to Sulaymaniyah, was granted the status of a province within the KRI, implementation at the federal Iraqi level was delayed for over a decade.

It was only under the current government led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani that the law gained parliamentary momentum again, despite reservations from individual Sunni and Shia MPs.

Halabja – a city with a heavy legacy

Halabja is one of the oldest settlements in southern Kurdistan. It was recognized as a kaza (administrative unit) under Ottoman rule as early as 1889. However, the city gained international notoriety due to a tragedy. On March 16, 1988, the Iraqi Baath regime under Saddam Hussein bombarded the city with poison gas. More than 5,000 people died, and thousands more were injured and traumatized. To this day, the name Halabja serves as a memorial against war crimes and chemical warfare.

New opportunities for development and autonomy

The recognition of Halabja as a province promises more than just symbolic recognition. Halabja, consisting of the city center and the districts of Xurmal, Biyare, Bemo, and Sîrwan, has a population of around 120,000. The new status gives them access to independent budgetary resources and subsidies from the Iraqi central government. Additional investment is also expected in areas such as infrastructure, education, health, and the labor market.