Merkel receives UN refugee agency’s top award

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the U.N. refugee agency’s top award on Monday and gave credit to the people behind the welcome of more than 1 million refugees, mostly from Syria, after she opened Germany’s doors to them in 2015 and 2016.

Merkel said she would donate the $150,000 prize for the UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award to four other regional laureates who were also recognized at a Geneva ceremony. Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed Merkel and presented her with the award after hailing “her leadership, her courage, her compassion, her positive, principled influence in Europe and in the world."