Germany's Angela Merkel receives UN refugee rights prize
October 11, 2022
Merkel dedicated her award to the thousands of people who volunteered to welcome refugees in 2015 when Germany took in over one million people fleeing war, many from Syria.
"We can do it" — Merkel famously told Germany when she decided to accept over a million refugeesImage: Stefan Wermuth/ASSOCIATED PRESS/picture alliance
Merkel was honored for the role she played in 2015 and 2016 when she opened Germany's borders to more than 1.2 million refugees fleeing from war in Syria, and elsewhere.
The former conservative chancellor thanked the many people across Germany who volunteered to help welcome and organize the arrival of refugees.
"From my point of view, this honor therefore goes above all to the countless people who pitched in at the time, it is thanks to them that we managed the situation, that we made it," Merkel said in her acceptance speech.
Merkel's legacy
At the ceremony, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said, "By helping more than one million refugees to survive and rebuild, Angela Merkel displayed great moral and political courage."
Merkel's decision to welcome refugees into Germany met with resistance and opposition at the time, especially from her own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
In particular, she clashed with the CSU leader Horst Seehofer who would also serve as her interior minister and who pushed for deportations to Afghanistan even as the Taliban advanced on Kabul.
"No refugees should be sent back to their countries in which they face persecution," Merkel said on Monday, insisting that "refugee rights must be respected."
Merkel bids farewell after 16 years in office
One of Germany's longest-serving chancellors, Angela Merkel, has said goodybe to politics after a fond send-off from her colleagues.
Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The last goodbye
The last two months have been full of goodbyes for Merkel. Here she waves as she departed the chancellery for the last time having formally handed the reins to Olaf Scholz, on the day he took the oath of office in the Bundestag.
Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Out of the hot seat
After Germany's federal election in September, Merkel was no longer a member of the Bundestag. Though she stayed on as caretaker chancellor until a new government was finalized, protocol decreed she had to watch Wednesday's proceedings from the viewing gallery.
Image: Jens Krick/Flashpic/picture alliance
Standing ovation
International leaders like former US President Barack Obama have said publicly how much they appreciated Merkel's leadership. Colleagues at home made it clear that they felt that way too, with members of the Bundestag clapping for the first woman to lead the German government.
Image: Jens Krick/Flashpic/picture alliance
No hard feelings
Merkel's successor Olaf Scholz gave his former boss a large bouquet to bid her farewell. They were not campaign rivals, as Merkel had already chosen to step down before the election. And although they are from different parties, they governed together in two coalitions, with Scholz most recently serving as her vice chancellor and finance minister.
Image: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
Friendship and continuity
Before leaving office, Merkel made a point of bringing Scholz with her to meet foreign leaders and to major meetings such as the G20 summit. Merkel said it was important for the global community to know there would be continuity despite a change of government in Germany.
Image: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
The rhombus retires
Merkel's famous stance, with her hands together in a diamond shape, is known as the "Merkel rhombus" or "power rhombus" in Germany. It was a sign of her steadiness and unchanging demeanor, but also indicative of a politician who would rather get to work than worry about photoshoots. Merkel, who has never courted the limelight outside of politics, may well be happy to have the latter behind her.
On November 22, 2005, Merkel ended up holding two bouquets, one a gift to her and the other awkwardly passed back to her by her predecessor Gerhard Schröder. Schröder and Merkel have not had the kind of relationship she is likely to have with Scholz going forward. He has often criticized her publicly, and she has tried to distance herself from his close ties with Russian leaders and businessmen.
Image: Michael Hanschke/dpa/picture alliance
7 images1 | 7
What did Merkel do with the prize?
The former chancellor — who decided to step down at last year's election after 16 years in power — was given a medal and prize money of $150,000 (€154,500) which she requested be shared among the four regional winners of the prize.
They included an Iraqi gynaecologist who supports Yazidi women who survived atrocities at the hands of the so-called Islamic State group, a woman from Costa Rica who set up a cooperative to support refugees, a refugee-run firefighting crew in Mauritania and a humanitarian group in Myanmar.
They all also received $50,000 in award money.
The Nansen Award has been given out every year since 1954 in honor of the UNHCR's first commissioner, Norwegian Arctic explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen.
