Angela Merkel won prestigious Nansen Award
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel won the prestigious Nansen Award from the UN Refugee Agency on Tuesday, receiving praise for her determination to protect asylum seekers while in office.
Referring to the more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers that Germany welcomed in 2015 and 2016, UNHCR’s selection committee praised Merkel’s “leadership, courage and compassion” at the height of the migrant crisis. fueled mainly by the war in Syria.
The then-woman, who led the federal government for 16 years, said at the time that the situation was “testing our European values like never before. It was neither more nor less than a humanitarian imperative.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi hailed Merkel’s determination to protect asylum seekers and uphold human rights, humanitarian principles and international law.
“By helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild, Angela Merkel has shown great moral and political courage,” he said in a statement.
“It was true leadership, calling on our common humanity and standing strong against those who preached fear and discrimination,” he said.
Angela Merkel won prestigious Nansen Award
“She showed what can be achieved when politicians do the right thing and strive to find solutions to the world’s challenges, rather than simply shifting the blame onto others.”
The selection committee pointed out that in addition to protecting people fleeing war, Merkel was driving Germany’s joint efforts to welcome them and help them integrate into society.
The annual Nansen Prize was established in 1954 in honor of the first United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Norwegian Arctic explorer and philanthropist Fridtjof Nansen, to recognize outstanding work on behalf of refugees.
