Myanmar Court Imprisons British Ex-Envoy & Her Husband For Violating Immigration Rules

Bilateral ties between Myanmar and the UK dipped to a new low recently, with the military Junta expelling the head of the UK Embassy in July. Last week, the UK sanctioned three Myanmar companies over their links to the military.

A military court sentenced Britain’s former Ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband, Burmese artist Htein Lin, to a one-year jail term for violating the country’s immigration laws in Myanmar on Friday.

The couple was arrested on August 24 on charges of misleading local authorities about their place of residence. Bowman currently runs the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business from the commercial city of Yangon. The former envoy from 2002 and 2006 was found guilty of breaching article 13(1) of the Immigration Act. Her husband, Htein Lin, was sentenced for assisting his wife in the crime. The Junta claimed that Bowman, 56, has been residing in a location different to the address she mentioned in her foreigner’s registration certificate.

It comes as ties between the two nations are increasingly tense. In July, the Junta expelled the head of the UK Embassy, Pete Vowles, for not presenting his required credentials to the military council. Meanwhile, the UK has imposed another round of sanctions on three Myanmar companies in support of the Southeast Asian country’s Rohingya community.

Around 700,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh and India after an alleged military action against their community in 2017. Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice ruled against the Myanmar government, allowing a full bench trial on alleged genocide case. The civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the Junta have denied committing crimes against the minority, claiming that Rohingyas burned their own homes. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing does not consider Rohingyas as an ethnic minority.