محمودرضا میرلطفی

Purpose- One of the key challenges in the border areas of Sistan is the existence of different ethnic groups and nationalities with different sense of place and identity belonging. The ethnic and national differences has created a turbulent and chaotic landscape in border villages of Sistan and caused a lot of damages to the sense of place and identity in affected areas. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the Afghans and the sense of place in the border villages of Sistan. Design/methodology/approach- The research method is descriptive -analytical and is based on library research and survey. The sample consisted of 31 villages inhabited by Afghans with 3669 households. A sample of 347 households were selected using Cochran's formula and were interviewed based on random sampling. The data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient in SPSS Software. Findings- The results of the test show that there is a significant relationship between the number of Afghan residents and sense of place in the studied area with a confidence level of 99 percent, so that by increasing Afghan households, sense of place decreases in the rural area and by reducing households in the rural area, the sense of place will increase. According to the results, it can be expressed that informal settlement of Afghans caused a reduction of sense of place in border villages of Sistan. Research limitations/implications- One of the restrictions on the way of the research can be lack of accurate statistics on the informal settlers living in the border villages of Sistan. Among the strategies that can be offered to improve regional identity, is a complete identification of the illegal migrants, the setting of firm rules for their control, and the monitoring of the security agencies on immigration. Practical implications- In order to solve this problem, the exact number of immigrants (illegal) settled in the area should be counted and according to law, they should be either granted citizenship or returned to Afghanistan. In the meantime, the best way is to grant citizenship to immigrants because evidence suggests that the majority of refugees return to their country after being fired from Iran. Accordingly, it is possible to confirm Afghan refugees by granting Iranian citizenship, national identity, and immigration in the destination country (Iran). Originality/value- So far, no attention to the sense of place of cross-border migrants (Afghans) to Iran, especially in border villages. Nevertheless, the present study has authenticity and practical value. Users of the results of this research are rural and regional planners, provincial government of Sistan and Baluchistan and its departments and agencies under the Department of Afghan citizens in the country.

Purpose- Village as a residential system has always suffered a lot of damage due to natural hazards such as drought throughout history, and due to the dependence of the rural economy on the agricultural sector, any threat against this sector leads to the weakening of the economic foundations, the village and eventually the economic stagnation of the country. Therefore, the aim of the current research is to evaluate the drought-resilient measures to reduce the vulnerability of rural households located in Rastaq district in Khalil-Abad City, Khorasan-Razavi Province.Design/methodology/approach- The type of research is applied research, and the data was collected by applying a descriptive-analytical method by using documentary sources and field studies (questionnaire). The statistical population of the research is comprised of the heads of rural households living in the study area. As a result, 337 people were selected using Cochran's method. For ranking and spatial analysis of the village, Copras and Vicor techniques were used, and Shannon technique and SPSS software were used for statistical data analysis.Findings- The results showed that among the weights obtained from the paired comparison of the dimensions raised in resilience measures with drought in reducing the vulnerability of rural households, modern irrigation measures with a score of (0.290) have the highest score in resilience measures. Avarane took over with the drought. Finally, in the study area, Niqab village performed better than other villages in terms of resilience measures in dealing with drought.Research limitations/implications- Not having access to statistical information when referring to Jihad Agriculture and Governorship, as well as filling out the questionnaire depending on the topic at the village level and the costs of conducting this research are among the challenges of the present research.Practical implications- In the end, according to the obtained results, it is considered necessary to provide solutions for the resilience of rural households at the level of the villages of this district and to implement the solutions.Originality / value- The present research is significant due to its expression and recognition of different issues surrounding the resilience of households in the face of drought. An important step can be taken in the direction of reducing the vulnerability of rural households to deal with drought in the coming years.