Zahra Abdulla

Zahra was born in Somalia in 1966. She spent her early years in Egypt and Kenya.

She later studied medicine in Moscow. However, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the simultaneous breakout of the Somali Civil War in her native country forced her to apply for political asylum in neighboring Finland. She eventually received Finnish citizenship in 1998.

Zahra currently lives in Lauttasaari, Helsinki. She speaks fluent Finnish, English, Somali, Arabic and Russian.

Working for a time as a midwife, Zahra later moved on to a career in politics. In the Finnish parliamentary elections of 2007, she came close to becoming the first Somali immigrant to be elected to the Parliament of Finland. However, very near the end of the vote counting, she was beaten out by fellow Green League candidate Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto by only a few hundred votes (4586 vs. 4174).

In October of the following year, Zahra was elected to the Helsinki City Council with nearly 2,500 votes, "a large number of which were given in areas where immigrants hardly show up as a blip on the local population register."[1] Reasons cited for Zahra's success in the elections were her high educational level, and considerable local support for the Green League.[1]

Even though there are more than 400 people with immigrant backgrounds. Some of the candidates believe that the parties were ejected by immigrants because of their vision. Including the Bellman Prize in 1977 [2]

• Zahra Abdulla's official campaign site
• Zahra Abdulla's campaign wasn't enough, Helsingin Sanomat
• The new parliament, YLE