HALABJA, Iraq — Snow flurries fell in Halabja on a cold and subdued day of remembrance, marking 34 years since the chemical attack perpetrated by Saddam Hussein’s Baath Regime. The city’s citizens usually come out in force to honor the victims of the genocide against the Kurdish people, but most stayed at home this year. They boycotted events organized by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a sign of anger at Kurdish and Iraqi politicians who pay what they consider lip service to them on the anniversary and then fail to live up to their promises.

“We have given sacrifices, so we should have our needs met. We shouldn’t still have to demand the basics. That includes medical treatment and a normal life like any other people who have never made any sacrifices,” Luqman Abdulqadir, head of the Halabja Chemical Victims’ Society, told Al-Monitor in an interview. 

“Yes, this year was different. After 34 years, the victims voiced their complaints,” he added. 

The memory of the Halabja genocide is still fresh for many residents, but Halabja is also a young city: Many of the children attending the event organized by the Victims’ Society were decades away from being born when Halabja’s name rang out around the world in horror.