Myanmar's armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing meeting with United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer in Naypyidaw, on August 17, 2022 (Myanmar's Military Information Team)

The UN special envoy for Myanmar will leave her post in June, the UN chief spokesperson announced to AFP on Wednesday, after an 18-month term during which she faced criticism from the junta and its opponents.

Since the military overthrew the government in February 2021, Myanmar has been in upheaval.

The carnage caused by the coup has not yet been stopped despite diplomatic attempts led by the UN and the ASEAN alliance to address the situation.

Stephane Dujarric stated that Noeleen Heyzer, who was appointed envoy by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in October 2021, "will conclude her assignment on 12 June" when her contract expires.

Guterres "is thankful to Ms. Heyzer for her tireless efforts on behalf of peace and the people of Myanmar," the spokesperson said, adding that a new envoy would be appointed.

Heyzer, a sociologist from Singapore, was allegedly charged with persuading the Myanmar junta to hold political talks with its opponents and put an end to the brutal crackdown it had started after overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's administration.

In an action criticized by rights organizations as lending legitimacy to the generals, she visited the Southeast Asian country in August and met with Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the junta, and other senior military figures.

But she was refused a meeting with imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi and later irritated junta officials who accused her of issuing a "one-sided statement" about what had been discussed.

Later, when Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison, she promised she would never return to the nation unless she could meet her.

With accusations against UN officials on the rise, the actual role of the organization has become questionable.

On May 28, Sudan's army leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, accused United Nations Special Envoy Volker Perthes of stoking a brutal conflict with paramilitaries in a letter in which he called for replacing Perthes.

Commenting on the accusation, the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked" by Al-Burhan's letter, which called for "the nomination of a replacement" to Perthes and accused him of committing "fraud and disinformation" in clearing the way for a political process, which broke down into six weeks of catastrophic clashes.

Al-Burhan accused Perthes of bias in the letter and of failing to respect "national sovereignty".