Ex-UK Labour Leader Corbyn Nominates Cuba's Medical Brigade For Nobel Peace Prize

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn became the 22nd British parliamentarian to formally nominate Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, the Cuban Solidarity Campaign (CSC) in the United Kingdom announced on Wednesday.

In excerpts from his letter to the Norwegian Nobel committee published by the CSC, Corbyn, who is a member of the UK Parliament for Islington North in London, recalled that since it was founded in 2005, the Cuban doctors and nurses "have shown themselves unsurpassable in their sheer determination to volunteer anywhere at any time to save lives, be that into a widespread natural disaster or epidemic."

The Labour lawmaker listed Guatemala, Bolivia, Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, Peru, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Indonesia, China, Nepal, Ecuador, Haiti, Fiji, Dominica, Mozambique as some of the countries where the Cuban health workers have been deployed to over the last 15 years.

"Whilst there is no doubt that the HRIMB would see their hard work as being rewarded by a sense of personal satisfaction at experiencing their own positive impact, such dedication and exercise in altruism and social service should not go unrecognised.

The Nobel Peace prize would be a fitting tribute to HMRIB and I wholeheartedly recommend them for it," Corbyn wrote.

Alongside the 22 UK lawmakers, a dozen academics from the United Kingdom have also formally nominated the Cuban medical brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

The rules of the Norwegian Nobel committee state that nominations can only be made by parliamentarians, academics, magistrates of international courts, previous recipients of the award, as well as active or retired members of the committee. The deadline for nominations is January 31.

Since its formation in 2005 at the initiative of the late leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro, the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade has saved tens of thousands of lives in several countries in the aftermath of earthquakes, hurricanes and epidemic outbreaks around the world.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, over 4,000 Cuban health workers have helped to contain the disease in 39 countries, including Italy, Andorra and the British Overseas Territories.