Source; Radio Zamaneh
Translate from Persian; Roman Mireki
One of the thousands of Kolbars who have to take their lives in order to earn a living in an interview with Zamane, narrates his experience and the situation that Kolbari has imposed on Kurdistan.
In 1402, at least 444 Kolbars were injured or killed in the border regions of Iranian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan region. The shooting of border guards was the main cause of injury and death of Kolbars. The statistics published in Kolbar News show a 90% increase in the injuries and deaths of Kolbars in 1402. The direct killing of Kolbars by Iranian border military forces is only part of the dangers and sufferings that Kolbars face on a daily basis. Those who turn to Kolbari are already involved in severe livelihood and unemployment crises that the government of the Islamic Republic has imposed especially on the geography of Kurdistan in Iran. Various media have covered statistical and general reports about the situation of Kolbars. Here we are interviewing a Kolbar so that he can tell the details and objectivity of Kolbari’s experience. The interviewee has been making a living with Kolbari for more than 5 years. He has seen the violence of border agents with his own eyes. In front of his eyes they moved the wounded Kolbars in nylon bags and his friends lost their health in the same way. The story of this Kolbar is one of the thousands of Kurds who were imposed Kolbari by the central government.
Question: Tell me a little about yourself, how old are you? How long did you study? What is the economic condition of your family?
Answer: I am 29 years old and I was born in one of the villages around Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province. I studied until the diploma level but due to financial problems it was not possible to continue my studies because our family was large. Besides myself I have 7 other siblings and I had to work to meet the minimum needs of the family. The amount of land we have in the village did not give us that much produce due to the fact that its area is small and this issue caused that none of my brothers and sisters were able to continue their education from a certain point on because we could not afford the expenses of education. That is the economic situation of our family was so bad that I remember that I did not eat meat until the fifth year of elementary school and I thought that the best food in the world was potatoes.
Question: What made you switch to Kolbari?
Answer: As I said the economic conditions of the family were bad and not only in our village but even in Sardasht there was nothing for us to do and be busy there. My brother who used to Kolbari before me, I went to the border of Sardasht and met someone there for whom I would carry a load.
Question: Are there any special conditions to become a Kolbar? How come he became a Kolbar and went to Kolbari?
Answer: The main condition for going to Kolbari is to be able to carry the load. This was the main requirement for Kolbari. Ability to carry the load means that you must be able to carry the level that the owner of the load intends to carry. I remember that one day there was a alcohol load, we went to the loads a boy had come for the first time for Kolbari. When he loaded the second carton he said that I cannot carry two cartons. The owner of the load told him that you can’t carry two cartons so don’t go because today I have to deliver all my loads over there on time and you can’t carry the amount that I calculated for one person so don’t go. The person who brought the boy also growled and said “You delayed me now where can I bring another person at such a speed at this moment?” It means that even for Kolbari if you have less capacity than one level they will not charge you.
Question: How much are the costs for each load? And what distance should be covered?
Answer: You see I did Kolbari in border of Beuran and Doleh in Sardasht as well as Musak in Baneh. In none of these borders the distance we had to walk was not less than 20 kilometers and that too through the difficult and impassable mountain path. Regarding the costs it also varies and depends on the weight of the load and what you are packing. For example I used to buy alcohol at 2,500,000 tomans per carton and the prices for household appliances and other items also vary.
Question: Usually any good is brought from all these borders that you mentioned? Both alcohol and household appliances and other goods?
Answer: Everything is brought from these borders but in the end the market where the goods and equipment are going to go and be used determines what the focus of that border should be. For example I only went to the Baneh border once because I have always carry a lot of alcohol. For alcohol I always go to Kolbari at the Sardasht border because more alcohol is brought from that route and the Baneh border is more focused on household and electrical appliances.
Question: Have you ever carry anything other than alcohol?
Answer: I do not Because my brother was the one who went to Kolbari before me and he was working with someone who only brought alcohol and that man told my brother one day that I want to bring more loads if you know bring two reliable people with you and so on. My brother told me and one of his other friends and I also went.
”From the moment he reaches the border there is no guarantee for his life because every factor from the border agents to snow, wind and storm can be deadly or troublesome for him.”
When we first left and crossed the border there were a lot of people but on the other side of the border when we went to carry the loads there were only about 10 of us. We all got alcohol load and there I found out that anyone who brings in goods. For example alcohol, household appliances, car parts, or anything else has a group of Kolbars working for him who are just doing the same thing. 10 of us were working with that man whom I saw inside Iran and he was also importing alcohol.
Of course, the explanations I gave do not mean that it is a rule that because I have taken alcohol no one will want to carry my Kolbari home appliances anymore. Basically everything depends on Kolbar’s ability and availability. That is if the Kolbar has the physical ability to carry heavier and more voluminous loads and there is a load on that day and a Kolbar is needed he can carry any other load as well.
Question: What are the things that a Kolbar may encounter at any moment?
Answer: There is no guarantee for the life of any Kolbar from the moment he arrives at the border because any factor from the border agents to snow, wind and storm can be deadly or troublesome for him. Sometimes it happened that the owner of the load said hurry up, I bought the border outpost and gave them money. So the Kolbars hurriedly left and when we reached the top of the mountain we realized that there was nothing to buy at all and the load owner had counted on the weather conditions. The weather conditions were foggy which made it difficult to see for the officers of the checkpoint. It means that the owner of the load with the confidence of the sieve that he gives to the Kolbars sometimes causes haste in the movement and this also brings the risk of being thrown from the rocks in bad weather conditions.
In addition to this, in the borders where the Kurdistan Regional Government’s border guards are on the other side which are the border forces of Barzanis, Kolbars are not safe and it has happened that if Kolbar took a load with him to the other side, they took the load and severly beat Kolbar. Kolbar suffered a fracture in his hand. It happened that Kolbar was detained for some time. According to my personal experience and that of the people around me from the borders we crossed and the PKK forces were on the other side, we were relieved that at least we are safe from shooting and there is no possibility of usurping our goods and beatings.
Question: During your time as kolbar, do you have any shooting experience that resulted in injury to yourself or those around you?
Answer: Shooting is one of the most common things that can happen. For me fortunately nothing like this has happened to date. But I remember one day on the other side of the border on the Iraqi side, we were waiting to carry the load when the trusted person of the load owner said to be early so that the shifts of the base haven’t changed so we can go to cross. Again he meant that they are in sync with the base and we quickly carry the load and moved. When we reached the top of the mountain the thick fog was everywhere and we could hardly see ourselves for a few steps. We were in this situation when we heard the sound of several shots, we went a little further and crossed the border. When I saw the inside of the nylon, there was a 20 year old boy who was shot in the legs. He was bleeding profusely and the blood was clotted inside the nylon, it was a very horrible scene and I will never get that amount of blood inside that nylon out of my mind.
Question: Do they take injured kolbars to the hospital for treatment?
Answer: Yes they take the injured Kolbars to the hospital but they do not receive any free medical services or even covered by insurance. Also every wounded Kolbar who is taken to the hospital, the money for the bullet that hit him will be taken from him at the end at the time of settlement from the hospital. Also after the hospital reports that a person has been wounded at the border the military forces will immediately arrive and they get a written commitment from Kolbar that if he crosses the border again in addition to a fine they will also give him a prison sentence.
Question: Do you know anyone who has been permanently disabled on the way to Kolbari?
Answer: Yes one of our fellow villagers stepped on a mine at the border a few years ago. His name is Ahmed and he is 40 years old and since then he has lost one of his legs.
Question: What is this person doing now?
Answer: After that incident the responsibility of earning the family’s income fell on his wife’s shoulders and his wife pays for the family’s expenses with sewing and other handicrafts. Of course during the potato harvesting season they go to Hamadan and work there. I heard that the person they work for there made Ahmed a foreman to give him money as well. At the same time I should also add that people who become disabled in this way like Ahmed are not covered by any organization, including welfare and similar institutions because the possibility of filing a court case is high for them.
Question: Why do you think the people of this land turn to Kolbari? What is the solution for the Kolbari problem?
Answer: As I said, the people of this land have no other way except Kolbari. They don’t have enough land to meet their basic material needs through agriculture and there is no production center where they can be busy. That is there is no other way nothing. A family of 8 people who have a small piece of land in the village and do not have any capital even for more productivity from their land can they pay for the education of all their children? Of course not and therefore the children have to come from the village to the city to make a living. There is no way. For the possibility of survival he has to try and that effort and that effort has no other way than Kolbari. Among the young people despite having no way to live there is a very strong motivation to go to Kolbari every day so that after two years they can save money and migrate with this money. I know more than 20 people who spent a few years in Kolbari and emigrated.
Question: What alternative way could there be so that these people do not have to deal with death like this on a daily basis?
Answer: One of the ways is that the capitalists of our regions, instead of investing the money they have in other places build small production workshops so that the young people of this land instead of going to Kolbari and collect what Kolbari brings, thinking of escaping from be in this land be busy there. However, personal selfishness and not considering the fate of fellow human beings is so rooted in the nation that no one cares about others. Another way is to use the capacities that exist in these areas. For example, they should turn the area around the dam built in Sardasht into a tourist area around which several jobs can be created. But in the end what is missing to improve our situation is the will to solve the situation on the part of capitalists and local people who can do something for these people because we have no hope for the government for many years and we are not looking for them to do something for us.
