It was no more and no less than a humanitarian imperative.” She called on her fellow Germans to reject divisive nationalism and urged them instead to be “self-assured and free, compassionate and open-minded”.įilippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, praised former Federal Chancellor Merkel’s determination to protect asylum-seekers and to stand up for human rights, humanitarian principles and international law. Under then Federal Chancellor Merkel’s leadership, Germany welcomed more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 20 – at the height of the conflict in Syria and amid deadly violence in other places.Īt that time, the then Chancellor said: “It was a situation which put our European values to the test as seldom before. Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, will receive the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.Įach year, the award – named after the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen – is given to an individual, group or organization who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.

GENEVA – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced today that Dr.

Angela Merkel, then Federal Chancellor of Germany, works in her office at the Federal Chancellery building in Berlin in 2011.

Opera news reliability