this Germany’s highest award was given to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)Nansen AwardAt a ceremony in which he defended the refugee admission policy he advocated in 2015 and 2016 against “the selfishness of wanting a Germany for the Germans”.
“But others are convinced that what’s important for the future then to be a self-confident countryopen to other people,” he stressed that “no refugees should be forcibly returned to countries where they were persecuted.
Merkel admitted at the Geneva ceremonyThe massive influx of refugees, mainly from Syria, in 2015 and 2016 was a “hard challenge” for GermanyHe thanked the local governments of the country and the families who participated in the welcoming campaign.
“I hope that good examples will spread and that more and more people will feel compelled to help people in need,” said the former foreign minister, reminding that “no one leaves their country senselessly without thinking very well beforehand”. “carefully”.
Merkel also reminded countries neighboring Syria at the ceremony on Monday: In the case of Lebanon or Jordan, it took on “greater than Germany’s” challengesTurkey with large Syrian communities or 3.8 million people fleeing Syrian territory despite the economic difficulties their country is experiencing.
When presenting the award to Merkel, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed that the former chancellor “showed vision, courage and strength when people knocked on Germany’s doors in large numbers” and described herself as “a moral compass”. The way to others in Europe and the world”.
“These qualities are greatly needed by leaders in today’s divided world, where more than 100 million people have been forced to leave their homes,” the Italian high commissioner said. said.
Between 2015 and 2016, at the height of the war in Syria that caused a refugee crisis reaching Europe, Merkel decided: Germany will host 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers.
On this occasion, Merkel justified her step by stating that she is facing a situation that tests the values of Europe in an exceptional way and that it is wrong to act in this way. “human necessity” Y categorically rejected the nationalist arguments that sought to thwart the measure.
former chancellor promised to split the prize money ($150,000) to the four winners of this issue’s regional categories: volunteer fire brigade Mbera (Mauritania), Nicaraguan humanitarian activist Vicenta González, Burmese organization Meikswe Myanmar and Iraqi gynecologist Nagham Hasan.
The UNHCR award is named after Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), a Norwegian explorer and pioneer in the struggle for refugee rights, the first international high commissioner for the protection of this group (from the League of Nations that preceded the UN). ).
This award has been received in recent yearsthe team of volunteers who, among others, helped overcome the 2016 refugee crisis in Greece, To the organization Mariposas de Alas Nuevas and Colombian activist Mayerlín Vergara Pérez of Fundación Renacer for their assistance to displaced women in Colombia.