WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:04.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% NICK SCHIFRIN: This fall, Iraqis in the southern city of Basra took to the streets to protest 00:04.433 --> 00:07.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% corrupt leaders and a lack of basic services. 00:07.500 --> 00:10.466 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Special correspondent Jane Ferguson traveled to Basra. 00:10.466 --> 00:15.466 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% And in the final story in her series "Dateline: Iraq," she reports how the resource-rich region 00:16.666 --> 00:18.700 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% leaves very little for its residents. 00:18.700 --> 00:22.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: Heading out to protest against his government, this 21-year-old Iraqi knows 00:23.466 --> 00:26.400 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% what he doing is dangerous. 00:26.400 --> 00:31.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Every Friday, he comes to this spot in Basra with whatever friends still dare to. 00:33.833 --> 00:37.166 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% When these demonstrations broke out in September, they were huge, an explosion of anger at years 00:38.400 --> 00:42.100 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% of poor governance and a lack of basic services. 00:42.100 --> 00:44.833 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Peaceful protests turned to riots. 00:44.833 --> 00:48.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Municipal buildings were overrun and set on fire. 00:48.500 --> 00:53.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% The security forces responded with brutality, killing 12 and injuring hundreds, over several 00:54.600 --> 00:56.666 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% days. 00:56.666 --> 01:00.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MAN (through translator): My friends and I came here to protest against corruption and 01:01.333 --> 01:03.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% to demand our rights. 01:03.400 --> 01:06.700 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% But they are treating us like terrorists or ISIS, just because we are against the government. 01:06.700 --> 01:09.366 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% They shot at us with live ammunition, used tear gas. 01:09.366 --> 01:10.933 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% They beat and arrested us. 01:10.933 --> 01:13.033 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% The arrests are still going on. 01:13.033 --> 01:17.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: He's too afraid to share his name, and sleeps at friends' houses, fearful 01:17.166 --> 01:19.300 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% of those nighttime arrests. 01:19.300 --> 01:24.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% For now, the crowds have died down, and the police don't shoot when the protests are this 01:24.300 --> 01:25.533 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% small. 01:25.533 --> 01:27.600 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% But he is trying to keep the momentum. 01:27.600 --> 01:32.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Their demands are simple: a reasonable quality of life and a minimum of government services. 01:34.566 --> 01:35.966 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MAN (through translator): They call us terrorists and say we will kill them. 01:35.966 --> 01:37.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% But we wouldn't do this. 01:37.400 --> 01:39.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% We didn't come here to kill them. 01:39.500 --> 01:43.266 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We came here to ask for water we can drink, decent health care, and an education for our 01:43.266 --> 01:44.266 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% children. 01:44.266 --> 01:46.400 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% We want Basra to be rebuilt. 01:46.400 --> 01:50.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We want the whole of Iraq to be rebuilt, and we want our share from the oil. 01:50.566 --> 01:51.800 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% These are not demands. 01:51.800 --> 01:53.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% These are rights written in the constitution. 01:53.866 --> 01:58.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: Iraq's southern city of Basra stands as a monument to economic decay. 01:59.800 --> 02:04.100 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Unemployment, power shortages and poverty make life here hell. 02:04.100 --> 02:09.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% A Shia stronghold, it was neglected under Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, and since his 02:10.433 --> 02:14.200 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% overthrow 15 years ago, corruption has plagued the city. 02:14.200 --> 02:19.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Throughout Saddam Hussein's reign, as well as after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Basra 02:20.733 --> 02:24.433 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% has suffered from enormous under-funding for its infrastructure. 02:24.433 --> 02:29.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Despite the huge oil wealth in the area, the living conditions here are some of the worst 02:30.000 --> 02:31.966 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% in Iraq. 02:31.966 --> 02:36.300 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% The people here cannot even rely on clean drinking water. 02:36.300 --> 02:39.833 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% This summer, over 90,000 were hospitalized. 02:39.833 --> 02:44.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% Treatment facilities and pipelines are in such poor condition that filthy sewage water 02:44.500 --> 02:47.800 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% from the city's Shatt al-Arab River contaminated the main 02:47.800 --> 02:49.733 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% water supply. 02:49.733 --> 02:52.566 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Even those bathing in the water were poisoned. 02:52.566 --> 02:56.900 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% On our first day in the city, we come across this charity handout of drinking water in 02:56.900 --> 03:01.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% a poor neighborhood, young and old desperate to get a safe drink, this most basic of needs. 03:05.766 --> 03:10.766 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% As the sun sets over the city, the cooler air draws people out to street markets. 03:12.766 --> 03:15.933 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Although fewer are protesting now, it's hard to find anyone that isn't angry at the failure 03:16.666 --> 03:18.766 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% of leadership here. 03:18.766 --> 03:23.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Hassan Naif is retired, yet he says it's the young men who struggle the most. 03:23.233 --> 03:25.800 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Finding decent jobs is nearly impossible. 03:25.800 --> 03:29.366 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% HASSAN NAIF, Retired Basra Resident (through translator): We have all kinds of young graduates, 03:29.366 --> 03:31.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% engineers, scientists. 03:31.033 --> 03:34.100 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% You see them with their degrees sitting on the street without a job. 03:34.100 --> 03:38.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% They graduate, they take their degree, and put it in their pocket, and get jobs doing 03:38.600 --> 03:40.100 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% hard labor. 03:40.100 --> 03:42.300 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% They go and work pushing carts in the marketplace. 03:42.300 --> 03:44.700 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% They do this, and they are engineers. 03:44.700 --> 03:49.466 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: The majority of Iraqi oil wealth comes from Basra, but pumping oil out of the 03:51.366 --> 03:54.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% ground creates few jobs, and people here say they don't benefit from the profits either. 03:56.400 --> 04:00.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MOHAMMED KARIM, Laborer (through translator): The government, they are thieves, they are 04:01.500 --> 04:05.166 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% bad, and the same people keep getting key positions. 04:05.166 --> 04:10.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% There is no electricity, no water and no jobs, and most of us are graduates. 04:11.200 --> 04:13.266 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% We have degrees. 04:13.266 --> 04:15.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% At least, in Saddam's day, you could have something, some of your rights, but now there 04:15.866 --> 04:17.966 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% is nothing. 04:17.966 --> 04:22.266 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% JANE FERGUSON: We met Basra's deputy governor in his new temporary office, because the old 04:23.833 --> 04:27.433 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% one was burned down by protesters. 04:27.433 --> 04:30.466 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% He blames the problems here on the central government in Baghdad. 04:30.466 --> 04:33.500 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% HASSAN AL NAJAR, Basra Deputy Governor (through translator): Since the beginning, we have 04:33.500 --> 04:38.500 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% demanded Basra's rights by asking for a share of the oil profits, petrodollars and the income 04:39.266 --> 04:41.233 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% from the border ports. 04:41.233 --> 04:44.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% But the central government hasn't responded to any of those demands. 04:44.533 --> 04:47.766 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% And if they did, we wouldn't have protests. 04:47.766 --> 04:50.100 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% So it was clearly the fault of the central government. 04:50.100 --> 04:54.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% If they had given us what we deserve from the budget, we wouldn't have reached this 04:54.166 --> 04:56.633 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% point. 04:56.633 --> 04:59.633 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: When protests were at their height in September, Iraq's then prime minister 04:59.633 --> 05:03.900 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% promised to make things better, jobs for the protesters. 05:03.900 --> 05:05.866 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% Those jobs never materialized. 05:05.866 --> 05:10.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% HASSAN AL NAJAR (through translator): After the protests, representatives from the prime 05:11.266 --> 05:12.466 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% minister's office came to Basra. 05:12.466 --> 05:16.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% They talked about giving us 10,000 jobs. 05:16.033 --> 05:20.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% So far, we haven't seen one of those jobs of what they told us we would get. 05:20.466 --> 05:25.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: But Basra's problems are not only the result of government neglect. 05:27.400 --> 05:30.933 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Under the cover of darkness, in Basra's cafes, young men speak cautiously about powerful 05:32.366 --> 05:35.500 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Shia militias competing with the local government for control. 05:35.500 --> 05:40.500 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% Hareth Mohammed, a 28-year old telecommunications engineer, will only dare refer to these militias 05:41.233 --> 05:43.766 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% as organizations. 05:43.766 --> 05:46.933 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% HARETH MOHAMMED, Telecom Engineer: The main problem is the competition between the politicians 05:48.900 --> 05:53.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% and the organizations, because Basra -- the main government in Basra, has harbors, oil 05:56.366 --> 05:57.766 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% fields. 05:57.766 --> 06:01.800 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% All the companies competed to get work here. 06:01.800 --> 06:06.800 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% When you have a city that contains all the resources for the country, everyone try to 06:10.366 --> 06:15.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% take control of the city, try to get a lot from the city, try to get control from harbor 06:16.533 --> 06:18.633 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% and oil fields. 06:18.633 --> 06:23.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% So, if everyone fighting for this city, and to take all the rich resources, it will never 06:24.900 --> 06:26.966 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% improve. 06:26.966 --> 06:30.900 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: But is it dangerous to talk openly about these frustrations? 06:32.066 --> 06:36.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% HARETH MOHAMMED: Yes, it's very dangerous. 06:36.033 --> 06:41.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% No -- not anyone can talk about that. 06:42.966 --> 06:46.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: When the Sunni extremists of ISIS swept across Iraq in 2014, they easily 06:48.300 --> 06:50.333 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% overran the Iraqi army. 06:50.333 --> 06:55.300 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Shia religious leaders called on young men to join militias, often funded by Iran, to 06:56.033 --> 06:58.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% fight against the group. 06:58.033 --> 07:02.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Shia heartlands like Basra sent thousands of fighters, many dying in battle. 07:04.666 --> 07:07.900 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% That fight is now over, and the militias have returned home, keeping their guns, and refusing 07:09.100 --> 07:11.266 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% to integrate into the regular army. 07:11.266 --> 07:15.466 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% Their leadership has consolidated power and wealth, determined to get payback for their 07:15.466 --> 07:17.966 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% sacrifices in the war. 07:17.966 --> 07:20.666 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Not everyone is afraid to speak out against the militias. 07:20.666 --> 07:25.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% These men waiting by the roadside for laboring work were too desperate to care. 07:25.233 --> 07:28.633 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Haitham Mahde works as a foreman on construction sites. 07:28.633 --> 07:32.633 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% HAITHAM MAHDE, Laborer (through translator): We blame the militia parties, the government. 07:32.633 --> 07:34.133 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% They are the same. 07:34.133 --> 07:37.366 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Islamic parties, the Sunni and Shia, they are all the same. 07:37.366 --> 07:42.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% In Saddam's day, we were in a river of corruption, and now we are in a sea of corruption. 07:43.466 --> 07:44.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% We are walking towards the unknown. 07:44.400 --> 07:45.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% Basra is a disaster. 07:45.866 --> 07:46.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% We have diseases. 07:46.866 --> 07:48.466 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% We have environmental issues. 07:48.466 --> 07:50.366 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% We don't have safe drinking water. 07:50.366 --> 07:52.900 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% Water is the minimum of human rights, and we don't have it. 07:52.900 --> 07:54.333 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% Can you believe it? 07:54.333 --> 07:56.800 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% The government cannot even keep a fish alive in the water. 07:56.800 --> 07:58.800 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% How do you expect me to live? 07:58.800 --> 08:03.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JANE FERGUSON: Not far away sits the charred remains of militia headquarters, torched by 08:05.166 --> 08:09.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% protesters just as angry at armed groups as they are at the government. 08:10.866 --> 08:14.333 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% In their rage, they also burned down the Iranian Consulate, too. 08:14.333 --> 08:19.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% For now, protests have died down, but anger lingers here, anger at abuses of power and 08:21.766 --> 08:23.833 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% the neglect of millions. 08:23.833 --> 08:28.833 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson in Basra, Iraq.