Global Courant 2023-06-01 00:37:17
UNITED NATIONS, United States – The United Nations’ special envoy to Myanmar will resign, a UN chief spokesman told AFP on Wednesday, after an 18-month term in office in which she was criticized by the junta and its opponents and with the country in turmoil.
“Noeleen Heyzer, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar, will end her assignment on June 12,” said Stephane Dujarric, without giving a reason for her departure.
The global body’s secretary-general, Mr. Antonio Guterres, “is grateful to Ms. Heyzer for her tireless efforts for the sake of peace and the people of Myanmar,” the spokesperson said, adding that a new envoy would be appointed.
Ms Heyzer, a Singaporean sociologist, was appointed as an envoy by Mr Guterres in 2021 and tasked with urging Myanmar’s junta to initiate political dialogue with its opponents.
She visited the Southeast Asian nation last August and met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and other top military officials in a move criticized by rights groups.
But she was denied a meeting with detained democracy leader Aun San Suu Kyi and later exasperated junta officials who accused her of issuing a “unilateral statement” of what had been discussed.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since a 2021 coup that sparked new clashes with ethnic rebels and the formation of dozens of “People’s Defense Forces” now battling the junta. AFP
