Roza Salih: from refugee to councillor

Dilan Sirwan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A former refugee in Scotland was elected as the first ever Kurdish councillor of the city of Glasgow as people all over the United Kingdom went to the polling stations on Thursday to elect their city council representatives.

Born in 1989 in Sulaimani, Roza Salih and her family fled from war in Iraq in 2001 and arrived in Scotland for a fresh start. 

Then only 12-year-old, Salih resumed her studies in a completely new environment until she graduated from Strathclyde University in 2013 with a degree in Law and Politics.

Twitter was stormed with photos and videos of Salih on Friday and Saturday after results showed that the Scottish National Party (SNP) had emerged victorious in the Glasgow elections and Salih was among the winners.

Scottish First Minister and Leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon soon took to Twitter to congratulate Salih on Friday.


For Salih, the path to becoming a councillor has not been easy, especially given that he is the first person in Scotland to go from being a refugee to a winning in a city council election.

“I am overwhelmed with all the support,” Salih told Rudaw English in a WhatsApp phone call on Sunday. “As a Kurdish-Scottish woman, I know that women entering the political field is hard and being a woman in the field is very challenging, but I hope I have inspired other women.”

“We need young women to get involved in politics,” she added.

Coming from the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdish claim to independence resonates with Salih as her political party calls for the independence of Scotland from the UK.

“Kurdish people have always fought for independence and that is very close to my heart, because only the people know what is best for them,” Salih said, adding that she maintains a good relationship with Kurds in Scotland and she was the co-founder of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan, an initiative aiming at developing ties between Scotland and Kurdistan.

Salih entered politics and activism at a very young age. While still in high school, Salih campaigned to stop UK Border Agency from holding children in detention centers and then deporting them, and along with her friends, they got known as Glasgow Girls.

In 2017, Salih stood as an SNP candidate for the Glasgow City Council, but was not elected. Her election this year was according to her “a goal” she has achieved.