Authorities in Myanmar have detained Britain’s former ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation, where a military junta seized power last year, three people with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.
Vicky Bowman, who currently runs the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and her husband, Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and former political prisoner, were detained on Wednesday, the sources said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
A source with knowledge of the situation said Bowman and her husband had been charged with immigration offences.
Britain is the fourth country after the Maldives, Netherlands and Canada, to vow formal support for the case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar to determine whether its military conducted genocidal operations against Rohingya Muslims in 2016 and 2017.
Three companies are being penalised with sanctions “in an effort to limit the military’s access to arms and revenue”, the British government said in a statement on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Myanmar junta did not answer repeated calls seeking comment.
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