Angela Merkel receives UN refugee award

By Omer Faruk Yildiz

GENEVA (AA) - Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the 2022 Nansen Refugee Award for her role in aiding people fleeing the war in Syria.

Merkel received the award, named after the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, in Geneva at a ceremony, along with regional prize winners on Monday.

Speaking at the event, the former chancellor thanked the numerous people across the country who volunteered to help welcome and organize the refugees' arrival.

Praising Türkiye's role in hosting 3.8 million Syrian refugees, Merkel underlined that the country had taken on a heavier burden than Germany in the refugee crisis.

Under Merkel, Germany received more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016 -- the height of the conflict in Syria and amid deadly violence in other places, according to the UN.