SMUGGLERS 

HOWRAMAN VALLEY, IRAN 2016 © Massimo Rumi

West of Sanandaj, the forbidding mountains and steep valleys form a dramatic border zone with Iraq, home to stacked villages, and territory of smugglers and military. Marginalised economically, Kurds have no alternatives for feeding their families, other than cross-border smuggling. Everyday they carry goods for small businessmen, on their backs or on donkeys, despite the enormous risks of being shot by police. Kurdish human rights group say more than 100 such smugglers were shot dead by Iranian border guards in the past year, as they try to take goods to Iran to sell.

.