The bill had been added to the parliament’s agenda several times in the past, but had not been voted on due to the opposition of a number of parliamentary blocs, demanding the accession of some other Iraqi district into a province, too. 

 

“Congratulations to the Kurdish nation. Congratulations to the families of martyrs. Congratulations to every single individual from Halabja," said Nukhsha Nasih, Halabja’s governor, after the parliament voted on Halabja’s accession to a province. 

 

“Today, justice was achieved for the 5,000 persons who were suffocated to death," Nasih said, referring to the Halabja chemical attack of 1988 by the former Iraqi regime.

 

The bill, of which The New Region was able to obtain a copy, cites that “the material, human, and environmental damage it suffered as a result of the bombing with prohibited chemical weapons by the former regime,” were the key factors in pushing for Halabja's accession to a province.

 

The bill consists of four articles.

 

The first article stipulates the establishment of Halabja as the 19th province in Iraq and the current district of Halabja as the center of the province. The second article obliges the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers to establish the administrative borders of the new province.

 

The third article commits relevant authorities to implement the law, while the fourth article requires the publication of the law in the Iraqi Official Gazette.

 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) declared Halabja as the Region’s fourth province in a decree in 2014, and in March 2023, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved a bill to ascend Halabja to a province.

 

Halabja has an estimated 200,000 residents. 

 

Updated at 04:29pm