Kolbarnews reported in its telegram channel that a kolbar (load carrier for daily wage) was shot and seriously injured by Iranian border soldiers in the border area of Choman in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The kolbar by the name of Aziz Azizi comes from the city of Bane, which is about 260 km away from Sine (Sanandaj). Azizi is currently being treated in a hospital in Bane.

Also in Hewraman a kolbar was injured after falling off a rock. The region in the Iraq-Iranian border area consists of mountainous land in the Halabja- Mariwan-Pawe triangle where similar incidents take place on regular basis.

Only four days ago the bodies of 18-year-old kolbar Azad Khosravi and his 14-year-old brother Farhad Khosravi were discovered near Mariwan. The brothers had been caught in a snowstorm during the border trade and had frozen to death. A third kolbar was rescued severely injured by local residents who had already spent three days searching for the missing.

After the burial of the Khosravi brothers, serious protests broke out in Mariwan against the Mullah regime in Tehran. During these protests, the mourners repeatedly shouted the slogan "Death to the dictator". Attacks by Iranian security forces subsequently led to numerous arrests. Among others, secret service agents arrested 15-year-old Milad Feizipour.

The tragedy of the kolbars

Eastern Kurdistan has descended deeper into poverty through the years due to deliberate policies by the Iranian regime and stands out as one of the poorest regions in Iran. Compared to other regions, the area has seen significantly less investment and development has been deliberately curbed. Agriculture and industry weren’t allowed to develop, and as a result unemployment rose to highest in Iran.

Faced with policies of discrimination, oppression and impoverishment, carrying smuggled goods is not a choice but a must for survival.

Kolbar comes from the Kurdish words, “kol” (back) and “bar” (load). Kolbars make their living carrying loads along the perilous border line. Their loads include cigarettes, mobile phones, cloths, housewares, tea and seldomly alcohol. They walk through dangerous terrain to continue this trade between Southern and Eastern Kurdistan. The goods they bring are sold at high prices in Tehran, but the kolbars who risk their lives for them are paid very modestly.

The intermediaries who take the deliveries and find buyers in cities are called kasibkars.

Kolbars and kasibkars range from 13 to 70 years old. Some only finished elementary school, while others are university graduates. They carry loads, because they can’t find any other employment. In the last 5 yearss, some 300 kolbars and kasibkars were killed in cold blood. There are no absolute statistics available for the deaths.

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