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Special Border Group to Safeguard Local Livelihoods

Special Border Group  to Safeguard Local Livelihoods
Special Border Group  to Safeguard Local Livelihoods

A  special border areas’ group has been established to help address problems of unemployment and safeguard the livelihoods of people living there, so as to further boost national security, said Baqer Hosseini, Majlis representative from Zabol in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

“The group has been established to help identify and reduce the problems of border cities,” IRNA quoted him as saying.

Due to their remoteness, the unemployment rate in border areas is higher. “The best border guards are residents of those areas; therefore, we should create opportunities to prevent the people from migrating to the metropolises,” he said.

“Levels of security and employment in the border areas have a direct impact on national security. In some provinces, in particular Sistan-Baluchestan, militant groups from Afghanistan and Pakistan are seeking to recruit new members; therefore as long as poverty, deprivation and unemployment in the province exists, there will be a tendency for the young and vulnerable, to join subversive groups.

Low per capita income can also lead to increased smuggling in the border regions, he said.

 Vulnerable

Sistan-Baluchestan has a 980 km border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the largest opium producers. So the province is vulnerable to social harm and needs more attention.

Exploration of the provincial mines can help the job market. There are plans to construct a factory in the region to address regional unemployment, he said.

Minister of Labor Ali Rabiee, had recently announced a new scheme called ‘Empowerment of the population living in rural, tribal and border areas through skills training.’ The plan aims to improve living conditions in target communities and help prevent them from migrating.

The scheme has been approved by the Supreme Labor Council and will be implemented by the Technical and Vocational Training Organization (TVTO) affiliated to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social welfare. Funds from the subsidy reform plans will be allocated for its implementation.

 

Financialtribune.com