Elkouria Amidane

Elkouria “Rabab” Amidane (1985)  was awarded the Student Peace Prize of 2009 for her struggle for the rights of her people and for an independent Western Sahara and for her role as a human rights activist.

People from West Sahara have struggled and fought for their independence ever since Morocco occupied the country in the 1970´s. Through her work for peace and freedom, Rabab wants to inform the world about how the Moroccan government mistreats the Saharawi people. She hopes that by spreading information about the conflict will put pressure on Morocco to allow the Sahrawians their independence.

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There are no higher educational institutions in West Sahara, which means that Sahrawians have to go to university in Morocco. The Sahrawians constantly have to face discrimination from both students and the authorities, which Amidane is telling the world through peaceful demonstrations and by documenting abuses of Sahrawian students.

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For standing up against the mistreat of an entire ethnic group, Moroccan authorities have stormed Amidane and her family´s home several times and detained her mother and sisters. Despite all this adversity, Rebab stays brave and refuses to stop telling the world about the discrimination of the Sahrawians.