In the Iranian Kurdistan, 9 Kurdish porters known as Kolber have been killed and wounded over the past week.
A group of Iranian Kurdish porters from Bana city in western Iran were shot by the security forces on Sunday leaving one porter wounded.
Mirovayeti Human Rights News reported on December 9, 2016, that Iranian security forces targeted a number of Kurdish backpack carriers in Sartazen area of Mariwan city. According to local sources, the offensive wounded a Kurdish worker named Raza Ra’anayi, who is currently in the hospital.
According to the source, 3 Kolbers have been killed and 6 others wounded by the Iranian border guards.
Despite being the most dangerous job in the Iranian Kurdistan, backpacking is the only source for many Kurdish people to earn a living for their families.
Due to the lack of government investment scheme, manufacturing and industrial sites in the Iranian Kurdistan, unemployment rate remains high. Therefore many people have to turn to backpacking for doing business.
Kurdish porters — commonly known as Kolber — working on the Iran-KRG border areas, are transporting goods on their backs to earn a living.
According to Kurdish human rights activists in the Iranian Kurdistan, the Iranian security forces have killed over 70 Kolbers since January 2016.
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