The Kolbari Border of Qasr-e Shirin Will Be Reopened Soon

The Deputy Governor of Qasr-e Shirin announced the reopening of the kolbari border of this city in the coming days with the aim of "developing the economic level." According to a report on Tuesday, January 3, in Mehr News Agency, Nematollah Nazparvardeh, the Deputy Governor, added that after the reopening of this border, kolbars will be allowed to import goods worth two million tomans per trip. However, as he stated, the import of food items through this route is "prohibited," and only the import of various household appliances and items such as washing machines and air conditioners is permitted. According to the Deputy Governor of Qasr-e Shirin, kolbars are allowed to sell their goods within the Qasr-e Shirin county to buyers, "but no one is allowed to take large quantities of these goods out of Qasr-e Shirin to other areas." Buyers can be residents of Qasr-e Shirin or travelers to this city. The Deputy Governor of Qasr-e Shirin stated that the purpose of this action is to "improve the welfare of the border residents of Qasr-e Shirin and enhance and develop the economic level" of this city. He also mentioned that "increasing employment capacity" in Qasr-e Shirin is another goal of activating the kolbari issue in this region. Nazparvardeh also announced the reopening of several other kolbari borders in Kermanshah province, but did not mention their names. Kolbari routes were closed based on a resolution by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government under the title of "organizing border crossings." Kolbars in Iran are border workers who earn their living by carrying various goods and bringing them into the country from unofficial customs points. Most of them work in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah, and since some of the goods imported by them are considered "smuggled" under Iranian law, they are also targeted by the Islamic Republic's border guards. However, they claim to be traders, kolbars, and earn their living by traversing mountains with loads sometimes heavier than their own weight. Ahmad Shaheed, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, and Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights, had previously criticized the killing and wounding of several kolbars and local traders in Iran's border areas by border guards.