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Former German chancellor Angela Merkel wins UN refugee prize

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AFP
AFP
Agence France-Presse

GENEVA: Former German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday won the United Nations refugee agency’s prestigious Nansen award, receiving praise for her determination to protect asylum-seekers while in office.

“By helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild, Angela Merkel displayed great moral and political courage,” UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said Merkel had been selected as the latest recipient for the Nansen award, which is handed out annually by the Geneva-based U.N. agency.

“Under the then-Federal Chancellor Merkel’s leadership, Germany welcomed more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum-seekers in 2015 and 2016, which was the height of the conflict in Syria, and there was deadly violence in other parts of the world,” UNHCR spokesman Saltmarsh told reporters. “Dr. Merkel helped to highlight the plight of refugees globally.”

Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005.

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