Kolbar

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Border regions in which the Kolbar operate
More and more women and children are also working as kolbars
More and more women are also working as kolbars
Kolbar cartoon

Kolbar ( Persian کولبرor Sorani کۆڵبەر; kol : 'back' and bar : 'load') (also: Kolber ) are load carriers from the Kurdish-Iranian border provinces of Kermanshah , Kordestan and West Azerbaijan who transport goods across the Iranian-Iraqi and Iranian-Turkish borders Make a living. The Kolber take advantage of the high price differences between Iraq and Iran. It is estimated that 40,000 people are active as Kolbars and around 400,000 people in the poor regions of western Iran are dependent on this type of frontier goods traffic. Various consumer goods such as electrical appliances, luxury goods, textiles and petrol are transported. The transport, which often takes place on foot, with horses or mules in impassable terrain and in rough weather conditions, is life-threatening for the Kolbar.

The proportion of women, children and people with an academic degree has increased in recent years due to the economic crisis in the region. Since there is currently no legal definition for kolbars, they cannot be defended in legal matters. In the last few years the Iranian parliament has tried several times to legalize the activities of the Kolbar and to enforce a draft law for this, but this repeatedly failed.

Measures of the border guards

The Iranian government declares the activities of the Kolbar illegal as smuggling . She assumes that the Kolbars are also transporting drugs and weapons for Kurdish separatists to the border area and are taking action against this with armed force. In 2018, 48 Kolbars are said to have been killed by border guards. In Iraq, the Kolbars were largely tolerated by the Kurdish Peshmerga ; since the tightening of trade sanctions against Iran after 2018, the smuggling Kolbars have also been persecuted by the Iraqi side.

Day of the Kolbar

The Kurdish population declared November 2nd “Kolbar Day” because, according to their statements, a particularly large number of Kolbars died around this date and the high security measures on the occasion of the hostage-taking in Tehran (on November 4th 1979).

Kolbar in the media

The situation and working conditions of the Kolbar are rarely discussed in the media, mostly only in the form of short reports on deaths on regional websites.

The Kolbar work under very tough conditions

In Bahman Ghobadi's film A Time for Drunken Horses brief insight into the everyday life of Kolbar be given.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Wolfgang Bauer: Smuggling: Over all mountains . In: The time . July 31, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed February 18, 2020]).
  2. ^ A b Sergio Colombo, Andrea Prada Bianchi: For Kurdish Smugglers, Iran Sanctions Are Starting to Bite. In: Foreign Policy. Retrieved February 18, 2020 (American English).
  3. ↑ a b Iranian Forces target Kurdish porters Carrying Goods for meager wages. In: Iran HRM. January 15, 2019, accessed February 18, 2020 (American English).
  4. ↑ Kolber injured in the Iranian-Iraqi border area. Retrieved January 28, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Another kolbar killed in Salmas. Retrieved January 28, 2020 (English).
  6. ↑ Who are the Kolbars? Retrieved January 28, 2020 (Kurdish-English).
  7. ↑ Reopening of KRG-Iran Border Crossings Does Not Include Kolbar Routes. In: The Iran Observer. January 6, 2018, accessed January 28, 2020 (American English).
  8. ↑ بریندار بوونی سێ كۆڵبه‌ر له‌ سنووری شاره‌كانی پیرانشار و ورمێ | کۆمەڵە. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .
  9. ^ Time of the drunken horses - film excerpt. Retrieved February 19, 2020 .