Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the UN refugee body’s award for her role in the way her country accepted more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in the 2015 and 2016, the UN refugee agency announced in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Dr Merkel showed what can be achieved when politicians take the right course of action and work to find solutions to the world’s challenges rather than simply shift responsibility to others,” the citation by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) read.
The Nansen Refugee Award, awarded annually by the UNHCR, is worth $150,000. It is named after Fridjof Nansen, a Norwegian polar explorer and humanitarian who received the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize.
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