Former British Envoy Detained in Burma After UK Imposes Fresh Sanctions

Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 15, 2021. Stringer/Reuters

Burma’s military reportedly detained a former British envoy and her husband on immigration charges after the British government imposed sanctions on three military-linked companies in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Authorities said Thursday that Vicky Bowman and her Burmese husband, Htein Lin, a former political prisoner, were arrested under the Immigration Act for failing to report a change of address.

The couple moved from their registered address in Yangon to Shan state last year. The junta claimed that Bowman violated the law as she failed to update her address, which carries a sentence of six months to five years in prison.

Htein Lin, an artist and a former political prisoner under a past government, was charged with abetting Bowman in violating the law and failing to notify authorities.

Bowman served as ambassador to Burma from 2002 to 2006. She currently runs the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, which advocates responsible business practices throughout the military-ruled country.

“We are concerned by the arrest of a British woman in Myanmar. We are in contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance,” the British embassy’s spokesperson told Reuters.

Sanctions on Military-Linked Companies

The couple’s arrest came as Britain imposed a new round of sanctions on Thursday targeting three military-linked companies in Burma to limit the military junta’s access to arms and revenues.

These companies include Star Sapphire Group of Companies, International Gateways Group of Co. Ltd., and Sky One Construction Co. Ltd.,—which is headed by Aung Pyae Sone, the son of the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, according to The Irrawaddy.

Britain said that it would intervene in the Rohingya genocide case brought by The Gambia against the Burmese military at the International Court of Justice, saying that it condemns the military’s “horrific campaign of ethnic cleansing.”

The Gambia filed the case in November 2019, alleging the Burmese military committed genocidal acts against the minority to “destroy the Rohingya group in whole or in part.”

Burma raised four preliminary objections to challenge the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of the application but they were rejected by the court, which could allow the case to proceed with the merits hearing.

The Rohingya have been denied citizenship in the country since a Burmese citizenship law was enacted in 1982. The United Nations stated that more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh because of a military clampdown in 2017.

The same military junta ousted an elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, sparking widespread anti-coup protests in Burma, which resulted in the deaths of 1,600 people, according to the U.N.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.