Examining the Phenomenon of Porterage (Kolberi) in the City of Baneh

The border areas of Kurdistan in recent years have witnessed the emergence of a new phenomenon called porterage (kulbery), which is one of the false and dangerous jobs of the country. Baneh city is one of the poor border areas of Kurdistan province in which the porterage job can be seen. Job opportunities in this city are very limited. Although Iran suffers from unemployment, statistics show that in the Kurdish provinces of the country, the unemployment rate is high, and as a result, the economic and social indicators are not in a good condition.

The methodological model of this research was based on the methodology of the data-based theory. The approach of this study was qualitative and basic theory was used to analyze the data. The participants of this research were people who work porterage in Baneh city. Participants were selected by the purposive sampling method and using the snowball technique. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were also used to collect information.

The main themes (border political economy, survival risk, demolish of social exhaustion the occupation, self-alienation, legitimation, and family dissatisfaction) and a core category (high-risk political economy) to express the attitude of people who do this job in Baneh in relation to the concept of porterage were extracted from the data. The data were finally depicted in the form of a basic model. According to the information obtained from interviews conducted (formal and informal), the Kulbery was an inevitable reaction and strategy of these people to unsatisfactory conditions of the city in terms of geography, economy, and political dominance in the area. In fact, the unfavorable living conditions in the region is one of the causes of the occurrence and continuation of the kulbery. According to the paradigm of the study, it can be said that the phenomenon of cross-border trade in its current state is a social structure and as a historical and basic matter, the result of reactions and interactions of native people to the opportunities and limitations of geographical, economic, and political conditions. The final result of the study showed that the porterage participating in the study, by interpreting themselves, understood the effective areas in the emergence of the porterage, and expressed concern about it and its adverse consequences. They believed that the borders and algebraic conditions of the region caused the city to be underdeveloped. Rigi (2016) confirmed the results of the study. His research showed that borders, with their special conditions, lead to the phenomenon of underdevelopment, and underdevelopment leads to issues such as contraband and porterage. Kolberi also leads to social inequalities. The study of Amirpour et al. (2012) also confirmed the effect of unemployment and livelihood problems on the formation of porterage. Their results showed that the lack of investment by the government and the private sector was one of the effective causes of creating kulbery. New job opportunities are not provided for the unemployed due to the lack of investment in this city. Based on the findings of the study, kulbars perceived their work as a phenomenon that has its own consequences. They considered their work to be a phenomenon that meets their livelihood needs on the one hand and brings them many unpleasant consequences on the other hand, which has made this phenomenon a challenge. The unjust distribution of facilities has led to the spread of the phenomenon of excessive marginalization in the city of Baneh. In fact, by examining the background and basis of the formation of Kolberi and its consequences, the authors of the present study have achieved a kind of risky political economy. A high-risk political economy means that a part of the local issues arisen in the border town of Baneh is rooted in financial issues and in itself depending on the performance of the country's political system. In fact, many of the dangers that lurk in kulbars are rooted in economic issues, and economic issues depend on government policies in the region.