Smugglers Route Nearly Disused Since Roboski Attack

[Aslan]

ZAKHO, Kurdistan Region – The old Haftanin-Roboski road, which connects Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to Turkey’s Kurdish areas, is hardly used anymore -- not even by smugglers – since the deadly 2011 Roboski air raid and arrests by Turkish soldiers.

“Before, 400 smugglers would come from North (Turkish) Kurdistan to buy goods in the South (Iraqi Kurdistan) everyday, but now hardly 20 come a day,” lamented Sanan Zubeir, a 50-year old who still ekes out a living supplying smugglers with fuel, tea, cigarettes and other goods for the journey back to Turkey.

Transactions between smugglers from Southern and Northern Kurdistan are very limited now, he said, adding that few people risk the two-hour journey since the air attack, and regular Turkish army raids.

On December 28, 2011, Turkish air force fighters attacked a civilian convoy near Roboski, killing 34 villages, many of them children. After the airstrike, the Turkish military said that authorities had mistakenly believed the caravan had been a convoy of guerrillas from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

“The road is not like before anymore. Those who take it come only to make enough money for their very basic needs,” said an 18-year-old villager from Roboski, who did not wish to give his name.

“For example, I cannot find other jobs in my village, and have no option but smuggling goods,” he added, complaining that Turkish soldiers often confiscate cargo whenever they catch a smuggler.

But Ciya Shahin Guli, a 28-year-old smuggler, said that the road is disused not out of fear of Turkish forces, but because much of the contraband into Turkey now goes through the Syrian border, where goods are cheaper.

“Now, most of the transactions take place in Nusaybin region near the Syrian border. Goods are cheaper there and transportation is easier,” said Guli.

Smugglers and merchants denied rumors of arms and human trafficking taking place on the border regions.

“Smugglers and merchants from North Kurdistan decide the type of goods,” said a merchant speaking on condition of anonymity. “Sometimes, they ask for tea and kerosene, but they mostly want cigarettes,” he said.

“Sometimes, people cross the borders to visit their relatives on the other side, other times young people who want to travel abroad illegally take that road too,” he added.

Smugglers also said they pay bribes to border guards to overlook their smuggling activities.