SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES RECIPIENT OF NANSEN MEDAL, AWARDED TODAY IN GENEVA, AS EXAMPLE OF COURAGE, BELIEF AND TENACITY

5 October 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6731

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES RECIPIENT OF NANSEN MEDAL, AWARDED TODAY IN GENEVA, AS EXAMPLE OF COURAGE, BELIEF AND TENACITY

19981005 Mustafa Dzhemilev Receives 1998 Award for Contribution To Resolution of Statelessness, Citizenship Issues of Crimean Tatar People

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message to the Nansen Medal Award Ceremony, which was delivered by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva today:

I am pleased to join with you today in paying tribute to Mustafa Dzhemilev as the 1998 recipient of the Nansen Medal for his contribution to the resolution of the statelessness and citizenship issues of the Crimean Tatar people.

Each year, the Nansen award is given to an individual who carries forward the compassionate, Nobel-peace-prize-winning tradition of Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer and humanitarian.

In the early decades of this century, Nansen helped millions of helpless people find refuge from tyranny, famine and war. The "Nansen passport", one of his many innovations, was simultaneously a vital travel document and a ticket to safety and renewal. Nansen's efforts as Norway's delegate to the League of Nations and then as the League's High Commissioner for Prisoners of War laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), itself a two-time winner of the Nobel peace prize and today one of the world's pre-eminent humanitarian agencies. Indeed, the very idea of a caring, international community of reason and goodwill owes much to Nansen's achievements.

In recent years, the emergence of conflicts involving ethnic groups has brought the issue of nationality to the foreground. While certain kinds of statelessness may be tolerated for generations, other types, such as that created by the dissolution of States, and which affect the nationality of millions, have been thrust to the forefront of international dialogue.

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The work of the Government of Ukraine and the collaboration between the Governments of Ukraine and Uzbekistan provide an example to all States looking to deal with the complexities and potential for conflict inherent in these issues. Mustafa Dzhemilev has been an important part of this process. He has worked long and hard on the right of the formerly deported Crimean Tatars to return home, and on the resolution of statelessness and nationality issues. He, himself, after years of imprisonment and harassment, is honoured by the Crimean Tatars as the elected leader of their highest body, and is also a member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He is, in short, an example to us all of what can be achieved through courage, belief and tenacity.

Fridtjof Nansen was also part of the relief effort when starvation and famine plagued Ukraine following the First World War, making Mr. Dzhemilev a kindred spirit with the namesake of the medal he is awarded today. It is my pleasure to congratulate him on his important achievements and to wish him the best for his future work.

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