UN chief picks Swiss diplomat as envoy on Myanmar

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 26 (APP):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a Swiss diplomat to serve as his special envoy on Myanmar, his spokesman announced Thursday.
The diplomat, Christine Schraner Burgener, is currently Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany.
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.
There has been international criticism of Myanmar over the flight of nearly 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh following a brutal military crackdown. The UN and its member states 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.
Responding to a question, the secretary-general’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said Schraner Burgener would be coming to New York “in the coming days” to take over her assignment.