Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won the Nansen Award from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for protecting thousands of refugees at the height of the crisis in Syria, the organization announced today.
“By helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild their lives, Angela Merkel has shown great moral and political courage,” UN refugee agency High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a released statement. today.
Under the leadership of the former chancellor, who was at the head of the country between 2005 and 2021, Germany received more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers, especially in 2015 and 2016, when the conflict in Syria was at its height and Europe was experiencing one of the biggest immigration crises in history.
The prize, awarded annually, is named after Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen and is presented to an individual, group or organization that has gone above and beyond their duty to protect refugees, internally displaced persons or stateless persons.
The then chancellor urged Germans to reject nationalism and be “self-sufficient and free, compassionate and open-minded”.
“It was a situation that tested our European values like never before. It was nothing special and nothing more than a humanitarian imperative,” said Angela Merkel.
However, for Filippo Grandi, the gesture showed “great moral and political courage” and a lot of determination to “protect asylum seekers and defend human rights, humanitarian principles and international law.”
Angela Merkel “was a true leader, who appealed to our humanity, standing firm against those who preached fear and discrimination,” Grandi said in the statement.
“She showed what can be achieved when politicians get on the right track and work to find solutions to the world’s challenges, rather than simply shifting responsibility to others,” he added.
In addition to protecting people forced to flee war, persecution and human rights abuses, the former chancellor worked to ensure that Germany could receive refugees and help them integrate into society, through education and training, employment and integration into the labor market. says the UN agency.
In addition, the former chancellor was also instrumental in expanding the resettlement program in Germany, which has helped protect tens of thousands of vulnerable refugees.
The 2022 Nansen Refugee Award committee also honored four other regional nominees.
In Africa, the award was given to the Mbera Fire Department, a volunteer refugee firefighting group in Mauritania that extinguished more than 100 forest fires and planted thousands of trees to preserve lives, livelihoods and the local environment. .
In the Americas, the award went to Vicenta González, whose nearly 50 years of helping displaced people and other vulnerable people included establishing a cocoa cooperative in Costa Rica to support refugees and women in the host community, including survivors. of domestic violence.
In Asia and the Pacific, the humanitarian organization Meikswe Myanmar, which helps communities in need, including internally displaced people, with basic necessities, medical assistance, education and livelihood opportunities, was chosen.
Finally, in the Middle East and North Africa, the award went to Nagham Hasan, an Iraqi gynecologist who provides medical and psychosocial care to girls and women from the Yazidi minority who have survived persecution, slavery and gender-based violence by of extremist groups in northern Iraq. .
The award will be presented to the former German chancellor and the four regional winners on October 10, at a ceremony in Geneva.
Source: TSF
