Metro, K24
The 32-year-old refugee Roza Salih, originally from Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region, was elected as the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) councillor for Greater Pollok in Glasglow on Friday, the first refugee counselor in Scottish history.
"Waking up this morning with so many congratulation messages has made my day. Thank you Scotland,” Salih tweeted on Saturday.
"I am so happy to be a councilor and that the Tories got hammered across Scotland, the future looks bright again,” she added.
"24hrs after #NicolsonSquare another proud moment for Scotland, as one of the ‘Glasgow Girls’ is elected & Scotland’s 1st refugee councillor,” Aamer Anwar, a lawyer tweeted.
The BBC reported that Salih studied at the University of Strathclyde, graduating in 2013 with an honors degree in law and politics, and later worked with the Scottish Refugee Council and the Education Strategy Commission to establish scholarships for asylum seekers.
She also co-founded Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan, visiting Kurdish regions in Turkey as a human rights activist, the BBC report added. But she has especially campaigned for asylum rights.
According to media reports, she traveled from Kurdistan to Scotland when she was only twelve.
"I can’t believe it. 20 years ago I came to this country as a refugee. I would never have imagined being able to serve my city,” she told a journalist.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative to the United States Bayan Sami Rahman congratulated her on Twitter.