Omar Lamin i Abeidi is a Spanish social worker[1] and politician of Sahrawi origin. He is a member of the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands. He is the first person of immigrant background to become a member of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands and the first Sahrawi-Spaniard to become a member of a regional parliament in Spain. He was elected in the 2023 Balearic regional election.

Omar Lamin
Member of the
Parliament of the Balearic Islands
Assumed office
20 June 2023
ConstituencyMallorca
Personal details
Born1988 or 1989 (age 35–36)
Sahrawi refugee camps, Tindouf, Algeria
Nationality
Political partySocialist Party of the Balearic Islands
Occupation
  • Social worker
  • politician

Early life

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Omar Lamin was born in the Sahrawi refugee camps located in Tindouf, Algeria. He first came to the Balearic Islands at the age of seven to stay with a foster family as part of the "Summers in Peace" (Spanish: Vacaciones en Paz) project. He has lived in Palma de Mallorca since 1999.[2]

Political career

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Omar joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) due to growing up in a family "with a socialist tradition". As a member of PSOE, he supported the "Socialists for the Sahara" initiative against the Spanish government's decision to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.[3] He is considered to have the support of the regional leader of PSOE's Balearic branch, Francina Armengol.[4]

He was named Island Director of Community Care and Strategic Projects of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs on 27 February 2021.[1] He renounced to stabilize his temporary position in March 2023.[5]

He was elected as a member of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands after the 2023 Balearic regional election, the first Sahrawi-Spaniard to be elected to a regional parliament in Spain. He works on the "just struggle of the Sahrawi people and so that all the people who have been forced to flee can return home".[2][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Omar Lamin, nombrado nuevo director insular de Atención Comunitaria y Proyectos Estratégicos" [Omar Lamin, appointed new island director of Community Care and Strategic Projects]. Europa Press (in Spanish). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Muñoz, Miguel (20 June 2023). "Omar Lamin (PSOE), primer diputado saharaui en un parlamento español: "Prometo por la justa lucha de mi pueblo"" [Omar Lamin (PSOE), first Sahrawi deputy in a Spanish parliament: "I promise for the just struggle of my people"]. Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  3. ^ Muñoz, Miguel (16 March 2023). "Así piensan los saharauis militantes del PSOE Aman y Omar sobre el giro del Gobierno" [This is how the militant Sahrawis of the PSOE Aman and Omar think about the turn of the Government]. Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  4. ^ Porcel, Guillem (21 June 2023). "El primer diputado saharaui de la historia, un discurso "en mallorquí" y las cenizas de Podemos y El Pi" [The first Saharawi deputy in history, a speech "in Mallorcan" and the ashes of Podemos and El Pi]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Dos directores insulares renuncian a estabilizar sus plazas de interinos en el IMAS" [Two island directors renounce to stabilize their temporary positions in the IMAS]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). 22 March 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  6. ^ Carrión, Francisco (21 June 2023). "Omar, el socialista balear que prometió como diputado en nombre de "la justa causa saharaui"" [Omar, the Balearic socialist who promised as a deputy in the name of "the just Sahrawi cause"]. El Independiente (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2023.