Family of Injured 14-Year-Old Porter Unable to Afford His Medical Treatment
According to reports, Mani Hashemi, a 14-year-old porter who fell on September 7th while fleeing in fear of gunfire from law enforcement officers, has sustained severe injuries.
Iran’s Labor News Agency, ILNA, reports that his family lacks the financial resources to transfer him to medical centers in Tehran.
Initial treatment of the teenage porter, who is from Shamsir village in Paveh, Kermanshah Province, was carried out at a local hospital, but his severe head and eye injuries require treatment at more equipped medical facilities.
Mani Hashemi’s family has appealed to the public for help in transferring him to Tehran and pursuing his treatment.
The official ILNA news agency cited the reason for the teenage porter’s fall as “loss of balance from fear of arrest and detention,” while social media sources cited that Mani Hashemi’s reason for portering was “to earn money to buy a mobile phone.”
According to statistics recorded at the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, during last month (August), 31 Kurdish porters and traders were killed and wounded at Iran’s western borders.
Reports of porters being killed in Iran have been published repeatedly and in some cases have received widespread coverage, leading to protests and strikes in some areas and cities of Iran.
Islamic Republic officials view portering as part of the smuggling process, but many critics and activists, pointing to widespread poverty and unemployment, inequalities and other challenges, describe portering not as a means of earning income, but as the only way of “survival” for a group of citizens and their families.
Previously, reports were also published about sentences of imprisonment and flogging for protesting the killing of porters.
For instance, on the third day of Mordad, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights announced the issuance of a total of 30 months imprisonment and 250 lashes for 10 civil activists on charges of protesting the killing of porters.
Source: Radio Farda
