Thursday, November 05, 2009

High Commissioner's Remarks at Nansen Refugee Award Ceremony

The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded in recognition of extraordinary service to refugees. Senator Ted Kennedy received it posthumously. - - Donna Poisl

HC Statements

Mrs. Kennedy, ladies and gentlemen,

During my time as Prime Minister of Portugal and in my current position as High Commissioner, I had the great honor and pleasure of meeting with Senator Kennedy on a number of occasions. I could not help but be immensely impressed by him -- impressed by his compassion and his unwaivering commitment to human rights and refugee protection. What he famously said of his brother is so true of him as well: he saw wrong and tried to right it. He saw suffering and tried to heal it.

When he traveled to East Bengal in 1971, he recalled a sight that seared his memory. I quote – " …a 10-year-old girl out foraging for something to cover the body of her baby brother." Thirty five years later, he wrote of those who fled the war in Iraq, "refugees are witnesses to the cruelty that stains our age." His powers of observation and compassion never waned. His conviction led to action that rescued scores of uprooted lives.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this presentation speech. This is only a small part of it.

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