Poverty more painful than bullets for kolbars in Iran

BANEH, Iran - Lying in a bed in one of Baneh’s hospitals in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west, the 22-year- old Mohammed Mawloodi can barely speak to people visiting him after being shot by Iranian border guards a week ago while working as kolbar, the thought of his poverty-struck family however, seems to be more painful than all the bullet wounds on his body.

In the early hours of April 13, Mawloodi, a young kolbar from the city of Baneh in Iran’s western Kurdistan Province, came under fire by Iranian border guards and was later transferred to Baneh’s Salahaddin Ayubi hospital.

Despite the city developing its tourism and economic sectors over recent years , people in Baneh still suffer from tremendous poverty, often times forcing them to resort to working as a kolbar to make ends meet.

Kolbars transport untaxed goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border and sometimes the Iran-Turkey border. They are constantly targeted by Iranian border guards and are sometimes also victims of natural disasters. 

Many are pushed into the profession by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's disenfranchised Kurdish provinces.

Mawloodi was among many others who chose that dangerous path in order to provide for his family.

“Our family consists of three brothers and a sister, our financial situation is not good,” Mawloodi told Rudaw English from the hospital. “I studied until fifth grade and then I stopped, last year I resorted to working as a kolbar in order to help my family who are in poverty.”

Kolbars often cross the mountainous borders in groups, often times dozens of them take on the rocky journey at a time.

“We were around 70 kolbars headed toward the Hangazhal border. Often times to prevent border guards from seeing us, we work at night,” he said. “At around three in the morning, we heard gunshots, the kolbars started hesitating and running away, I ran with them but immediately fell to the ground. Upon trying to get up, I felt blood pouring from my body.”

Mawloodi was shot around the waist and chest. He was then transferred to the hospital and has since undergone several surgeries. Despite all that, what he claims to hurt him more than his wounds is thinking about his family. 

“What hurts me more is that it is not clear for how much longer I will be like this, and I am not sure if I will be able to work after this, I am worried I will not be able to help my poor family,” he said.

In their monthly report on human rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish areas, the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said that at least 18 kolbars were injured during March, either due to various accidents or in shootings by Iranian border forces. Two kolbars also lost their lives: Rostam Khezri after being shot by border guards and Mohammad Omidvar from frostbite.

“At least 52 Kolbars were killed and 163 Kolbars were injured in the border regions of Iranian Kurdistan in 2021,” reported Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.