Facing a storm of global criticism over an ethnic slaughter in her home country, the Nobel laureate who is Myanmar’s most prominent political leader has canceled her planned visit to the United Nations General Assembly.

The cancellation by the leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced by her office on Wednesday, less than a week before the annual gathering in New York of leaders representing the 193-member General Assembly, the largest forum for diplomacy.

Her decision to abandon the visit came amid an uproar over deadly attacks by security forces on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, which is predominantly Buddhist.

In recent weeks, hundreds have been killed, including children. Nearly 400,000 have fled for their lives into neighboring Bangladesh, according to officials and news reports from the region.