A Member of Parliament: We Are Facing a Crisis of Student Porters

A member of parliament referred to what he called the "crisis of student porters," announcing that 75,000 people in Iran are engaged in portering, some of whom are students who die while portering. Rasoul Khazari, a representative from Piranshahr, stated in an interview with ILNA news agency on Saturday, November 7, that some students in western provinces engage in portering after school. He added, "We are facing a crisis of student porters and the loss of them, so we must act quickly to resolve these issues." Previously, multiple reports had been published about the activities of some students in western provinces of Iran as porters. After several porters were killed due to being caught in an avalanche in the winter of 2017, the father of Ali Mohammadzadeh, one of these porters, stated that his son was 18 years old and had engaged in portering with some friends to earn about 150,000 to 200,000 tomans. Ali Mohammadzadeh's literature teacher also told the Etemad newspaper that "many students in border cities work as porters, but they never mention it at school or in front of their friends." In February 2017, after the death of five porters, 60 civil and political activists wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, and members of parliament, requesting that they provide immediate support to the families of the victims and take long-term measures to create more jobs in western provinces of Iran. Porters are individuals who carry goods across Iran's borders for their livelihood. They are primarily engaged in this work in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah. In some cases, these individuals carry heavy goods such as televisions or car tires on horseback into Iran. Meanwhile, Mr. Khazari mentioned that porters carry about "220 kg" of load on their backs and that "in addition to the weight of the load, physical problems also threaten them." This member of parliament also discussed the insurance of porters, stating that they must pay 95% of the insurance costs themselves, and a sum is allocated for their insurance from the nomadic insurance fund. He also reported that recently, porter routes from Iraq have been blocked, and porters are not allowed to travel on these routes. This member of parliament noted that the National Security Council has held multiple meetings to address this issue. Members of parliament have previously mentioned preparing plans to improve the situation and "organize" porters, but these plans have not yet been presented in the public session of parliament. Iranian government agencies have also issued "porter books" for some porters. Reports of the deaths of several porters due to gunfire from Iranian border guards are frequently published. In September, protests were held in the cities of Baneh and Sanandaj in response to the killing of two porters, and several demonstrators were arrested. Some officials and institutions in the Islamic Republic also refer to "porters" as agents of smuggling goods across the borders into Iran, but the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic stated in May 2016 that his fight against smuggling does not mean "fighting against porters." Human rights groups have described direct and unannounced shootings at porters as "inhumane" and have strongly criticized such actions by the military and law enforcement of the Islamic Republic. Previously, videos and images of the mass killing of porters' horses and mules by law enforcement officers had been published, which led to protests from several representatives from Kurdistan in parliament.