76 Iranian Kurdish cross-border porters died in 2019: watchdog
SNE, Iranian Kurdistan,— Seventy-six Kurdish Kolbars (porters) and workers died along the Iranian border in 2019, a human rights watchdog said on Tuesday.
Fifty of those were shot and killed by Iranian security forces, according to Hengaw, which closely monitors human rights abuses in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat),
In an end of year release of data, the organization said that it had recorded 194 cases of direct fire by Iranian forces against Kolbars and associated workers. In addition to those who died, 144 others were wounded.
One Kolbar was killed and eleven others wounded by mines left over from the Iran-Iraq War, many of which still litter the rugged terrain along the border decades after the end of the conflict.
Twenty-three Kolbars and workers died and 19 others were injured in natural incidents like avalanches and severe weather or in accidents, Hengaw said.
Two more were killed and two others injured in traffic collisions.
156 Kolbars were killed or injured by the Iranian security forces in 2018, making this past year more dangerous. A total of 231 Kurdish Kolbars were either killed or seriously wounded in 2018.
Kolbars carry goods across the mountainous border between Iran and Iraq on their backs. They frequently come under fire from Iranian border guards. Despite extreme temperatures in winter and summer, they risk their lives in the treacherous mountain passes to make ends meet.
Ever since its emergence in 1979 the Islamic regime imposed discriminatory rules and laws against the Kurds in all social, political and economic fields.
The Kurds in Iran experience discrimination in the enjoyment of their religious, economic and cultural rights. Parents are banned from registering their babies with certain Kurdish names, and religious minorities that are mainly or partially Kurdish are targeted by measures designed to stigmatize and isolate them.
Kurds are also discriminated against in their access to employment, adequate housing and political rights, and so suffer entrenched poverty, which has further marginalized them.
Estimate to over 12 million Kurds live in Iranian Kurdistan.
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