UN to appoint Swiss official as Myanmar envoy
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has named a Swiss diplomat to serve as his special envoy to Myanmar.
Christine Schraner Burgener is currently Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany. Her new appointment was confirmed by the Swiss government on Friday.
Schraner Burgener served as the Swiss ambassador to Thailand from 2009 to 2015, and her husband was the Swiss ambassador to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
In a statementExternal link, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry called Schraner Burgener’s appointment “further proof of the excellence of Swiss diplomacy”, adding that it also underscored Switzerland’s “engagement as a member of the UN”.
+ Schraner Burgener and her husband shared the role of ambassador in Bangkok
There has been international criticism of Myanmar over the flight of nearly 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh following a military crackdown. The UN, United States, Britain and others have described the operation as ethnic cleansing, which Myanmar has denied.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December asking Guterres to appoint an envoy. This weekend, the UN Security Council is heading to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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