At Least 225 Kolbars have been killed or wounded during One Year
According to statistics reported by the Kurdpa Human Rights Organization, a total of at least 225 Kolbars were killed or wounded (42 killed, 180 wounded, 3 missing) from 21 March 2021 to 21 March 2022, in the border regions of Iranian Kurdistan. However, the actual figures of killed and wounded Kolbars are feared to be much higher.
The following are the number of killed and wounded Kolbars by causes:
• Direct fire by the Iranian armed forces: 123
• Direct fire by the Turkish armed forces: 10
• Falling from heights: 16
• Frostbite and avalanche: 5
• Beating by armed forces: 11
• Landmine explosion: 10
• Suffocation in tent: 2
• Drowned in river following a chase:2
• Heart attack during Kolbari: 3
• Road accident: 42
The violence inflicted on the Kurdish people by the Iranian state occurs in various forms and contexts. Reported above is the violence in the context of the economic underdevelopment of Iranian Kurdistan in comparison to the central parts of Iran that is highlighted. This kind of violence manifests itself in the indiscriminate killings of the Kurdish civilians who work as Kolbars (porters), i.e. individuals who carry goods on their backs across the border regions between Iraqi, Turkish and Iranian Kurdistan.
The economic underdevelopment of Iranian Kurdistan, combined with deliberate and sustained state policy, and the lack of employment opportunities have forced the people of Kurdistan into what in Kurdish is known as “Kolbari” (porterage) as a means of survival.
The Kolbars or porters, young and old, including those that are highly educated, carry goods as heavy as 220 kg on their backs across mountainous regions. In recent years, the number of university students and university graduates have also been on the rise. These university students reportedly receive about 150 to 200 thousand Toman (equivalent of 30€ to 40€) each time for porterage.
Kolbars, whom are forced to take up this line of work as a means of survival, face mortal danger, including but not limited to the harsh weather conditions such as avalanches as well as increasing and indiscriminate shooting from the so-called Iranian security forces, as well as ambush and even imprisonment. Kolbars are easy targets for the paramilitary and so-called border security forces, who in fact constitute a threat to the security of Kurdish civilians.
Figures from various human rights organizations show that since the year 2014, the number of Kolbars killed and injured by Iranian paramilitary forces and the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has increased annually.
Despite increasing civil protests against the indiscriminate killings of Kolbars by the people of Kurdistan, there is still no real changes in the Iranian government’s policy. The Iranian military officials, not only defended the shootings and killings of Kolbars by the regime’s forces, but also justify the killing of Kurdish porters. The Iranian military officials’ blatant support for these human rights violations and outright support for the so-called border forces’ indiscriminate shootings speaks to the fact that even regime officials have little to no respect to their own domestic laws when it comes to the Kurdish Kolbars. According to Iran’s domestic laws, the use of firearms should only be used as a last resort.
