Burkina Faso authorities had no power to expel senior UN official: António Guterres

In a statement released on Saturday, Mr. Guterres announced that he had full confidence in the UN system in Burkina Faso, as well as in the commitment and professionalism of Ms. Manzi.

For years, Burkina Faso has suffered from political instability and experienced two military coups in 2022 alone. This year has also seen the continuation of the deadly terrorist attacks that have long ravaged the country: at least 79 people were killed in an attack on a northern town in June and on Monday a minibus reportedly hit a landmine, killing around 10 people.

Amid this lack of security, Burkina Faso faces a huge humanitarian crisis, with more than one million people in Burkina Faso displaced from their homes, victims of ongoing conflict and poverty.

In November, in a blog published by UN News, Ms Manzi described the vulnerability of education and health services to terrorist groups, many of which have been forced to close, exacerbating the crisis.

According to media reports, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry cited Ms Manzi’s decision to withdraw non-essential staff from the capital, Ouagadougou, as justification for declaring her persona non grata.

However, as Mr. Guterres pointed out in his statement, the doctrine of persona non grata does not apply to United Nations officials.

Under Articles 100 and 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, the staff of the United Nations are appointed by the Secretary-General, responsible solely to the Organization, and the Member States of the United Nations undertake to respect their exclusively international, said the UN chief.

The statement goes on to explain that UN staff members have the right to remain in Burkina Faso in order to carry out their duties on behalf of the Organization, and that only the UN Secretary-General, as chief of the administration of the Organization, shall have the right to remove any official of the United Nations.

Mr. Guterres reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to continue to engage with the transitional authorities in Burkina Faso and to support the country and its people.