Asia Arianfar: In military courts, the blood of kolbars is declared “wasted” / Ali Kalai

The shooting of Kolbars in the western border regions of Iran has raised serious questions about the right to life, the limits of the powers of armed officers, and the right of victims to seek justice for years. Although the Law on the Organization of Border Trade has set a framework for some of the […]...

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The Right to Life in the Shadow of Poverty and Border Repression/Sina Yousefi

Kolbari in Kurdish areas, fuel carriers in Balochistan and other forms of informal and risky employment in other border areas, including Azerbaijan, are part of the economic reality of regions that have faced structural poverty, a lack of sustainable job opportunities and deprivation of development opportunities for years. In these regions, a significant part of […]...

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From regulating cross-border trade to the right to livelihood; how is support for border residents achieved? / Lohrasb Kohistani

Let’s say a resident of Marivan applies for a border trade quota. He has submitted his residency documents, but the answer is simply: Your conditions were not met. He does not know which document was incomplete, whether the quota capacity was filled or other people had priority. More importantly, he does not know where to […]...

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Iran’s Commitments to the Right to Life and the Prohibition of the Use of Deadly Force/ Maryam Abedi

Kolbari and fuel bartering cannot be analyzed within the classical framework of informal trade practices; this phenomenon is, first and foremost, a survival strategy in the context of structural poverty, chronic unemployment, and regional discrimination. It was in this context that the “Law on the Organization and Supervision of Border Trade (Kolbari and Melvani) and […]...

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The phenomenon of subsistence smuggling with a view to the incompetent government/Raha Azadi

A failed state is a state that is unable to perform its functions as a state. Such a state is incapable of establishing social order, monopolizing the use of violence, meeting the basic needs of the people of the society, establishing security and the rule of law, and some of its functions are performed by […]...

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From Regulation to Security: Why Kulbari and Sukhtbari Persist Along Iran’s Borders/ Shabnam Moinipour

The adoption of the Law on the Organisation and Supervision of Border Trade (Kulbari and Maritime Trade) and the Creation of Sustainable Employment for Border Residents in 2024 can be understood as a form of official acknowledgement by the Islamic Republic that kulbari, the practice of carrying goods across borders, cannot be viewed solely through […]...

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The hardships and dangers of kolbari, as told by kolbaris/Pardis Parsa

The phenomenon of kolbari has become one of the most painful manifestations of the informal economy in the western and northwestern borders of Iran in recent decades. Kolbari is mainly prevalent in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam. Field estimates show that about 70 thousand people are kolbari in the provinces of […]...

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The Struggle of Fuel Carriers and Kolbars to Earn a Living By Motahareh Jafari

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From acting to smuggling/ Negar Jokar

Kolbari and sukhatabari are laborious occupations that a significant percentage of citizens are engaged in due to the lack of suitable and equal job opportunities. Every year, a large number of kolbars and sukhatabars are injured and killed as a result of military shootings, falling from mountains, and freezing in Iran. On the fifth of […]...

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Does the proposed bill recognize the use of lethal weapons as legitimate? In conversation with Saleh Nikbakht/ Behzad Haghighi.

In pursuit of expanding the powers of law enforcement and military personnel in the use of weapons, the proposed amendment to the Arms Use Law, particularly the granting of authority to security and plainclothes officers, has raised the greatest concern among legal experts and human rights activists. This puts one of the most fundamental human […]...

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انDevelopment of the use of weapons against citizens with legal tools/ Osman Mozinan

Is might right? The law on the use of weapons by law enforcement officers in necessary situations was passed in 1373 (1994) and was drafted in the prevailing conditions after the end of the eight-year war. It seems that the aim of this law was to prevent shooting at civilians and reduce the use of […]...

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