In Sinê province of Eastern Kurdistan, which houses 80 percent of the strawberry production in Iran, only the toil of the production falls to the share of the Kurds due to the regime's exploitation of labor.

The Iranian regime that exploits all of Eastern Kurdistan's richness starts with the beginning of the harvest season in the province of Sinê to exploit the people's labor. Mainly strawberries and many other fruits are produced in the Sinê province where farmers have started the strawberry harvest.

Sinê's Minister of Agriculture Erdeşîr Purhebîbî stated that an amount of 45 thousand tons of strawberry is expected to be harvested this year.

This official estimation unveils again the exploitation of labor in Eastern Kurdistan as the figure of 45,000 tons corresponds to 80 percent of the total amount of strawberry production in the country. According to the official assessment, the value for 45 thousand tons of strawberries would be 55 million dollar worth. That is in Iran's currency 200 thousand billion toman.

THE PROVINCE WITH THE HIGHEST RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Sinê is Iran's poorest province which reveals clearly how much of this money is returned to the people. Its unemployment rate of 45 percent can only be explained with the state's rent, mafia business network and exploitation of the people's labor, given Sine's vast fertile lands that give a yield a few times a year.

SYSTEMATIC EXPLOITATION BY THE STATE THROUGH NETWORKS

Strawberry is produced in a vast land in the province of Sinê as well as its Kamyaran, Solava and Marîwan districts where the soil diversity, climate and water sources are pretty suitable for the production. However, the regime continues to exploit the labor of producers through policies of pillaging. Middlemen, mafia subcontractors and trade networks affiliated with the regime steal millions of dollars of this production on yearly basis.

FACTORIES ARE NOT ALLOWED

Although 80 percent of the strawberry production in the country takes place in the Sinê province alone, the regime does not allow even one factory to be built there, which forces the farmers to take their products to other provinces to be able to process them. At this point, middlemen, regime-affiliated merchant thugs and networks come into play, as result of which farmers sell their products for a pretty low price from the field. Denial for the building of a packing factory in Sinê province reveals how things work against the producers.

SOLD AT HALF PRICE

The same policy is conducted in all the sections of economy throughout Eastern Kurdistan territory. For instance, one kilo of every fruit produced in Sinê is sold at the half price of the same fruit produced in Northern Iran. However, it is known already that the quality of fruits and vegetables originating from Sinê is much higher than the rest of Iran.

Yearly 1 million 110 thousand hectare earth get cultivated in the province of Sinê, while the amount of harvest is not known clearly. The same situation also goes for the provinces of Urmia, Kermanshah, Lorîstan, Îlam and Lorîstan. Approximately 300 thousand tons of fruits are produced in the province of Sinê, but it is unclear how much of it fills the Kurds' plate there.