UK’s former Myanmar ambassador arrested in Yangon, report says | Myanmar

Authorities in Myanmar have detained Britain’s former ambassador to the country in Yangon, a source has said.

Vicky Bowman and her husband, Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and former political prisoner, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with immigration offences, Reuters reported. They were remanded in custody and were being sent to Insein prison, it added.

At the time of her arrest, Bowman was working as a director at the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB). She previously served as the UK ambassador to Burma from 2002-06. She also held roles in Brussels under the former European commissioner Chris Patten and as director of global and economic issues at the UK Foreign Office.

When appointed at the MCRB Bowman was described as one of the “pre-eminent experts on Myanmar”. She said the role brought together her “two professional and personal passions”: Myanmar and responsible business.

Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup on 1 February last year, leading to mass protests in Yangon and across the country.

The arrest of Bowman comes after the UK released a statement on the fifth anniversary of the Rohingya crisis and announced further sanctions targeting military-linked companies.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an organisation tracking human rights violations in Burma, more than 15,000 people have been arrested by 24 August and 12,000 remain in detention.

A graduate of natural sciences (pathology) from University of Cambridge and Burmese studies at SOAS University of London, and fluent in the language, Bowman began her diplomatic career in 1990 working as second secretary at the embassy in the south-east Asian country from 1990-93.

Bowman’s husband, Htein Lin, was arrested and imprisoned by the military government in 1998. In prison he secretly continued to paint, completing more than 1,000 works while carrying out his sentence.

“It took me a year to start painting properly in prison. I had to befriend a prison guard, who would bring me colour but no brushes. I had to find other things to paint with,” Lin said in 2008.

“In my cell I put on an exhibition for the 30 other political prisoners. I had to pay the guard to let me do it and he gave me two hours,” he said.

The pair have a 14-year-old daughter.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “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.”