By Jonah Fisher
BBC News, Myanmar
13 June 2017
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| Renata Lok-Dessallien is currently on leave |
The United Nations has confirmed that its top official in
Myanmar is being moved from her position.
Diplomatic and aid community sources in Yangon told the
BBC the decision was linked to Renata Lok-Dessallien's failure to prioritise
human rights.
In particular, this referred to the oppressed Rohingya
Muslim minority.
Internal UN documents - shown to the BBC - said the
organisation had become "glaringly dysfunctional", and wracked by
internal tensions.
A UN spokeswoman confirmed Ms Lok-Dessallien, a Canadian
citizen, was being "rotated", saying this had nothing to do with her
performance which she said had been "consistently appreciated".
Late last year as tens of thousands of Rohingya fled rape and abuse at the hands of Burmese soldiers, the UN team inside Myanmar was strangely silent.
Ms Lok-Dessallien and her spokesman declined simple
requests for information; and on one absurd occasion she visited the conflict
area, but on her return refused to allow journalists to film or record her
words at a press conference.
The BBC was told that on numerous occasions aid workers
with a human rights focus were deliberately excluded from important meetings.
Those moments reflect a wider criticism of Ms
Lok-Dessallien and her team, namely that their priority was building
development programmes and a strong relationship with the Burmese government -
not advocating that the rights of oppressed minorities, like the Rohingya,
should be respected.
In an internal document prepared for the new UN secretary
general, the UN team in Myanmar is described as "glaringly
dysfunctional" with "strong tensions" between different parts of
the UN system.
Ms Lok-Dessallien is currently on leave but has been told
that her position is being upgraded, bringing her role to an end after
three-and-a-half years, rather than the usual term of up to five years.