Geneva-based UNHCR praises Germany’s refugee policy
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has received the United Nation refugee agency’s top award in the Swiss city of Geneva.
During Monday’s ceremony she gave credit to the people behind the welcome of more than one million refugees, mostly from Syria, after she opened Germany’s doors to them in 2015 and 2016.
Merkel said she would donate the $150,000 prize (CHF150,000) for the UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award to four other regional laureates who were also recognised at a Geneva ceremony.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed Merkel and presented her with the award after hailing “her leadership, her courage, her compassion, her positive, principled influence in Europe and in the world.”
Merkel, who has not made many public appearances since leaving office in December, praised others for the welcome that she oversaw at a time when many Syrians were fleeing entrenched conflict at home — a conflict that continues today.
She also praised Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbour, for taking in 3.8 million refugees, and pointed to the huge numbers of Syrian refugees taken in by Lebanon and Jordan relative to their populations.
The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award honors individuals, groups or organisations that go “above and beyond the call of duty” to protect refugees and other displaced and stateless people.
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