Yangon – UN on Wednesday confirmed its top Myanmar official will leave her post at the end of the month, following heavy criticism of her response to the country’s Rohingya crisis.
A statement from the country team on Wednesday said Renata Lok-Dessallien, the resident and humanitarian coordinator, would be transferred to the UN New York headquarters as part of a planned “succession process.”
Lok Dessallien has faced months of allegations that she undermined attempts to publicly stand up for the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled violence in Myanmar in recent weeks.
Most recently, she was accused of suppressing a report that criticised the UN’s strategy in the country and said the organisation was ill-prepared to deal with the impending crisis.
Over half a million people have fled Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state for neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, following a campaign of violence, allegedly involving mass arson and indiscriminate killings by soldiers.
UN human rights chief Zeid Al-Hussein has termed the crisis “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
However, Wednesday’s statement did not specify who would replace Lok-Dessallien. (dpa/NAN)