Visit of Rabab Amidane to Norway/Sweden, July 21st to August 6th
2007
Report 1, August 1st
It has been a busy week for the 22 year old Sahrawi student and human
rights activist Rabab Amidane. Amidane is on a 16 day tour to
Norway/Sweden, meeting with youth and student organisations. The aim of
her tour is to give testimony of the frequent attacks committed against
Sahrawis at universities and other places of higher education in
Morocco and Western Sahara.
On the first day of her stay in Norway, July 21st, Amidane was
international guest at the summer camp of the Young Liberal Party, on
which she gave a presentation about the Sahrawi students' situation.
The same day, Amidane also met the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mr. Jens
Stoltenberg (picture), who told that when he was the leader of the
Young Liberal
Party, they visited Polisario in Algeria. Amidane thanked Stoltenberg
for the Norwegian foreign policy on the Western Sahara question.
Amidane also met with parliamentarian Mr. Truls Wickholm, as well as
several of the leaders of the Labour Youth.
August 24th to 26th, Amidane spent in Gothenburg, Sweden, meeting with
representatives of the student parliament of the Gothenburg University,
as well as with the student group of Amnesty International Gothenburg.
Back in Oslo from August 26th, Amidane has met with the Norwegian
Student Union and the Norwegian Association of Students. The two
organisations, with more than 200.000 members in Norway, expressed
their strong support for the struggle that the Sahrawi students are
leading. The same was expressed in a meeting with the Norwegian
Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund.
The Rafto House Foundation has written a long story about the work
carried out by Amidane, as well as the violations of human rights
committed against the Sahrawi students. [norsk]
From Saturday 28th to Wednesday 1st, Amidane participated at the annual
summer camp of the Young Liberals of Norway. It is the Young Liberals
who invited Amidane to Norway, in collaboration with the Norwegian
Children and Youth Council. Amidane had talks with Liberal Party's
parliamentarians Mr. Odd Einar Dørum and Ms Trine Skei Grande.
Dørum has been minister in two Norwegian governments. Skei
Grande asked in April this year a question in the Norwegian parliament
regarding what the Norwegian government intends to do for the
protection of human rights for the Sahrawi people. The Liberal Party
politicians expressed their strong support for the Sahrawi cause,
underlining their demand that the Norwegian government recognises the
Saharawi Arabic Democratic Republic.
All the organisations that have received Amidane so far signed May 23rd
a
letter to the Moroccan government demanding the protection of the
Sahrawi students. Amidane has given the organisations updates on the
attacks that have taken place since the letter was sent.
To be continued...
Report, pictures, video...
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