UN chief names veteran Swiss diplomat as Myanmar envoy

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed veteran Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to be the world body’s special envoy for Myanmar.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced the appointment Thursday of 54-year-old Burgener, who has been Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany since 2015.

Burgener was Switzerland’s ambassador to Thailand from 2009 until she took up the German post. Her husband is also a diplomat and was the Swiss ambassador to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar during that time.

Dujarric says Burgener brings over 25 years of experience in diplomacy to her new job.

Her appointment comes as the U.N. Security Council heads to Myanmar and Bangladesh this weekend to focus on some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar since August.