Kolbar

A kolbar (Persian: کول‌بر‎) or kolber (Kurdish: کۆڵبەر‎) or cross-border labor[1] is a worker who is employed to carry goods on his/her back across the borders of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey legally or illegally.[2] Most kolbars live in Iranian Kurdistan, where the Kurdish provinces are among the poorest in the country. Kolbars also live in Turkish Kurdistan and to a lesser extent Iraqi Kurdistan. Since kolbar work is mostly considered illegal, kolbar workers have no insurance, retirement plans and unions. Among the kolbars are highly educated young people, who have no job because of high unemployment in Kurdish provinces.[3] According to Iranian statistics, only in the Kurdistan Province more than twenty thousand people depend on being a kolbar for sustenance.[4] The phenomenon of kolbari is tied to the de-development in Rojhelat.[1]



Etymology

The word kolbar is a Kurdish word, which literally means one who carries a load.[5]

Children and Women as Kolbar This occupation has existed since the Pahlavi dynasty. However, since this occupation has been declared illegal by the Iranian government, many people (probably between 200 and 400) are killed each year by shots fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard border troops Often, however, many Kolbars freeze to death due to the cold or die from falling off mountains

The proportion of women, children and people with an academic degree has increased in recent years as a result of the economic crisis in the region. Since there is no clear definition of Kolbar so far, they cannot be defended in legal matters. In recent years, the Iranian parliament has tried several times to recognize the profession of Kolbari as a legal activity and to push through a bill for this, but this has repeatedly failed.

Day of the Kolbar November 2nd is Kolbar Day. The reason for this is that every year at this time, due to the high security measures on the occasion of the hostage-taking of Tehran (on 4 November 1979), a particularly large number of Kolbar die.

Kolbar in Media

The situation and working conditions of Kolbar are rarely discussed in the media, usually only in the form of short reports on regional websites such as Telegram about deaths of Kolbar. The Kolbar work under very harsh conditions In the film Time of the Drunken Horses by the film director Bahman Ghobadi, brief insights into the everyday life of the Kolbar are given. [6] But the term Kolbar is also mentioned sporadically in the books and newspapers, such as a few articles from the Kurdish afterthought side "Rudaw"[7]

Killing kolbars

In both Iran and Turkey many young male and female kolbars have been shot dead by government forces.[6] In many cases crossing the border is against the law, and the kolbars are shot.[7][8]

gollark: https://xkcd.com/2347/
gollark: If I was making stuff people actually *depended* on in large quantities I would probably want cashmoney, in order to be able to keep it maintained and all.
gollark: Or, well, things which are practical enough that multiple people are likely to use them for serious purposes.
gollark: If I was actually making some sort of useful thing or something which might be a component of some important systems, I might GPLv3 it and try and sell commercial licenses, but... I don't make useful things.
gollark: My stuff is all just shoved under the MIT license because honestly who cares.

References
  1. Soleimani, Kamal; Mohammadpour, Ahmad. "Life and labor on the internal colonial edge: Political economy of kolberi in Rojhelat". The British Journal of Sociology. n/a (n/a). doi:10.1111/1468-4446.12745. ISSN 1468-4446.
  2. Kurdistan human Rights Network: Who are Kolbars?
  3. Fars News: A kolbar that has a MSc degree (in Persian)
  4. Fars News:The situation of kolbars vaguer than ever
  5. "Foreign Policy: For Kurdish Smugglers, Iran Sanctions Are Starting to Bite".
  6. ANF News:Another Kolbar was shot dead
  7. Iran Observer: Reopening of KRG-Iran Border Crossings Does Not Include Kolbar Routes
  8. ANF:Roboski, six years ago
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