Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2005-2021) on Monday (October 10) urged world leaders not to send people back to countries where they risk being persecuted, after receiving the Nansen Prize from the United Nations High Commissioner United for Refugees (UNHCR).
Anglea Merkel, rewarded for her determination to welcome people displaced by conflicts when she was in office, stressed that
“the rights of refugees must be respected”
.
“No refugee should be sent back to their country if they risk being persecuted
,” she declared during a ceremony in Geneva (Switzerland).
UNHCR's selection committee praised Angela Merkel for
her 'leadership, courage and compassion'
when Germany took in more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, at the height of the crisis. migration crisis in Europe, triggered in particular by the war in Syria.
At the time, the Chancellor, who led Germany for 16 years, had judged that the situation was
"a test for our European values as rarely before"
, pointing to
"a humanitarian imperative"
.
The UN agency highlighted how it had called on its citizens to reject divisive nationalism, urging them to be
“compassionate and open-minded”
.
In presenting her with the Nansen Medal, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said she had shown
"vision, courage and fortitude"
.
"You have shown a sense of morality which has not only guided your work and the actions of your country, but which has shown the way for many of us in Europe and around the world"
, added Filippo Grandi.
As the number of forcibly displaced exceeded 100 million for the first time this year, Filippo Grandi told Angela Merkel:
“Your example is and must be an example for other leaders”
.
No one leaves their country of origin casually and without having thought about it for a long time.
»
Angela Merkel
Accepting the award in front of a crowd of around 500, the ex-Chancellor acknowledged that Germany had faced
“enormous challenges”
when so many refugees arrived.
The one who at the time said to her fellow citizens
“Wir schaffen das”
(“We will get there”) said she was proud that they proved her right.
“I hope the good example will spread and I hope that in the future more people will feel compelled to provide shelter for those in need
,” she added.
"No one leaves their home country casually and without thinking about it for a long time."
Accepting her gold medal, Angela Merkel asked that the prize of 150,000 dollars (155,000 euros) which accompanies it be shared between four other winners, who already received each 50,000 dollars (51,500 euros).
Among them is Nagham Hasan, an Iraqi gynecologist who provided medical and psychosocial support to Yazidi girls and women who survived slavery, rape and other violence while in the hands of jihadist groups in northern Iraq.
Also on the list is the all-refugee fire brigade in Mbera, Mauritania, which has extinguished more than 100 bushfires and planted thousands of trees.
Meikswe Myanmar, a humanitarian organization helping in particular internally displaced people in Burma, plunged into chaos since a putsch in February 2021,
was also awarded.
Just like Vincenta Gonzalez, who created a cocoa cooperative in Costa Rica to help refugees and Costa Rican women who host them.
The Nansen Prize, awarded annually, was established in 1954 in honor of the first UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Norwegian Arctic explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), to recognize outstanding achievement in the humanitarian field.