A former UK ambassador to Myanmar has been arrested, according to two people familiar with the situation, as the country marked the fifth anniversary of the military’s crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya minority that has drawn accusations of genocide.
Vicky Bowman, the UK’s envoy to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006, and her husband, artist and former political prisoner Htein Lin, were detained by the military regime, which seized power in a coup in February last year.
The two were taken to Yangon’s Insein prison, the people said. Bowman is expected to be charged with violating Myanmar’s Immigration Act, according to local media.
“We are concerned by the arrest of a British woman in Myanmar,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement on Thursday. “We are in contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance.”
Bowman is the director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, a…
