A FORMER Iraqi refugee who won acclaim as one of the campaigning Glasgow Girls has started work for a SNP MP.
Roza Salih arrived in Scotland as a child after she and her family fled their home in Kirkuk in Iraq. She has been hired by Chris Stephens, the MP for Glasgow South West to work in his constituency office.
Stephens told The National he was delighted to take Roza on.
“The standard of applicants for the position in my office was of an amazingly high standard, and Roza was the best of that incredibly good bunch,” he said.
“Even in the few days she has been working in the constituency she has been hugely helpful to myself and the rest of the office team. From her own experiences she knows the challenges faced by many of my constituents, challenges I have been working hard to address.”
The seven Glasgow Girls met as pupils at Drumchapel High School and highlighted the poor treatment of asylum seekers whose rights of appeal had been exhausted.
The group was established in 2005 in response to the detention of one of their friends, Agnesa Murselaj.
Publicity grew as the girls challenged the then First Minister Jack McConnell on the matter and publicly voiced their concerns as more children at their school were being dawn raided, detained and deported.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here