Economic crisis deepens in Rojhilat, government builds police station

As poverty grows in Rojhilat and people are unable to bring home bread, the state decides to spend money in building a police station.

A deep economic crisis is heavily affecting Rojhilat Kurdistan. The crisis is a result of the policy of the state and is hitting people very hard. So hard that many families have literally no bread on their table. A rough calculation of the expenses for a household gives a clear picture of the situation. The cheapest bread is a thousand toman. A family of 5 consumes 15 bread a day. The electricity bill reaches at least 35,000 toman per month. Gas can sometimes go up to 180,000. The monthly water bill is 40,000 toman. Costs for a baby are at least 70,000. The price of cheese is between 15 and 20,000 toman. A chicken is 20,000 toman. Of course, it is not possible to buy meat under these conditions. On the other hand, the situation of a family in which nobody works is deplorable. The monthly social fund given by the state is only 45,500 toman.

According to official records, 70 percent of Iranian workforce is unemployed. Iran has a population of with a population of 85 million. 60 percent of the population live below the poverty line. The rate of those who committed suicide out of hunger and poverty is rising. Male, female and child suicides are increasing by the day. Statistics show that the number of men who committed suicide in Iran is higher than women. The social crisis is reaching an extreme point.

Despite this picture, the state does not have a project for the unemployed. In fact, the only project the state is carrying out is to build police stations.

Since the people of Rojhilat have a tradition of resistance, they endure even the hardest situation trying to work and frustrate the policies of the state. One of such policies is “agentization”, i.e. the attempt to turn Kurds into informers. The people of Rojhilat are hardworking and honourable. They collect products such as Gezo (crushing and pulverizing sugar dried on leaves; a food eaten with butter in the morning), Timeswan gum (as a remedy for many diseases such as stomach pain), maso, sumac, and work in vineyards, gardens and livestock. Besides, collecting is one of the most common jobs in Rojhilat. The people are doing their job as collectors because of the troubles they are experiencing, but when they do it, they are faced with the attacks of the guards.