Merkel awarded UNESCO peace prize for opening Germany to refugees
A prestigious UN award was awarded to Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday for allowing refugees into the country when she was in office.
Merkel received appreciation for allowing entry of more than 1.2 million asylum seekers and refugees to Germany in 2015 and 2016 and was awarded the Felix Houphouet-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize in Yamoussoukro, the capital of the Ivory Coast.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s director-general Audrey Azoulay said, “The jury wanted to honour the courageous decision taken in 2015 to welcome more than a million refugees… when at the same time so many voices were calling for the closure of Europe. You were, at that time, the vision of courage in politics.”
The decision was taken by Merkel when the refugee crisis, fuelled by the war in Syria, was at its peak.
“Respecting, preserving and sharing human rights is the mission of each of us. We decided that it was necessary to respect these principles in our migration policy,” the veteran former leader said.
Merkel spent 16 years in the office of chancellor and resigned in 2021.
“This was only possible because many people rolled up their sleeves on the ground,” Merkel said while speaking at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Foundation, which derived its name after Ivory Coast’s first president.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said, “Despite the hostility of public opinion, you took the decision to open Germany’s borders to refugees fleeing conflict zones. You have reminded all world leaders of their duty of solidarity towards all humans.”
Almost 2,000 people received invitation to the ceremony, which was started in 1989 and previously has given awards to Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Francois Hollande.
(With inputs from agencies)
