Britain's former Myanmar envoy detained in Yangon | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 16, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025
Britain's former Myanmar envoy detained in Yangon

World+Biz

Reuters
25 August, 2022, 04:05 pm
Last modified: 25 August, 2022, 04:10 pm

Related News

  • Suchinta Foundation's Ctg division leader Zeenat Sohana detained
  • 54 held over attack on Hasnat’s vehicle in Gazipur
  • Swechasebak Dal leader detained over alleged theft of RMG goods worth Tk28 lakh from Benapole port
  • 14, including SAD coordinator, arrested for Kalabagan office attack
  • 60 detained as joint forces raid Haji Mazar slum in Gazipur

Britain's former Myanmar envoy detained in Yangon

Reuters
25 August, 2022, 04:05 pm
Last modified: 25 August, 2022, 04:10 pm
Myanmar soldiers walk along a street during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Myanmar soldiers walk along a street during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

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.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The arrest comes on the heels of Britain announcing that it is imposing fresh sanctions to target military-linked businesses in Myanmar and joining the case against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice.

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.

Myanmar has been in political and economic chaos since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021.

More than 15,000 people have been arrested and 12,119 remain in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group. The junta claims that figure is exaggerated.

A British embassy spokesperson in Yangon 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." The spokesperson did not name the individual.

Bowman, 56, served as ambassador to Myanmar from 2002-2006 and has more than three decades' experience in the country.

Her husband Htein Lin, 55, is one of Myanmar's most famous artists and a veteran activist who spent 6 1/2 years, between 1998 and 2004,) in prison for his opposition to an earlier junta.

The couple had been remanded in custody and were being sent to Insein prison, a source said, the notorious jail on the outskirts of the commercial capital of Yangon where many political prisoners are held.

The source added their young daughter remained "safe and well".

Bowman is the latest foreigner to be detained in Myanmar. Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and longtime advisor to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Japanese freelance filmmaker Toru Kubota are also remain in detention. Their governments have called for them to be released.

Top News

UK Envoy / Myanamr / detain

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
    BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
  • Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
    Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
  • Representational image of school children. File photo: Collected
    Govt issues urgent guidelines to educational institutes to curb Covid, dengue spread

MOST VIEWED

  • Vehicles were seen stuck on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway due to a traffic jam stretching 15 kilometres on 14 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    15km traffic jam on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway as post-Eid rush continues
  • Tour operator Borsha Islam. Photo: Collected
    ‘Tour Expert’ admin Borsha Islam arrested over Bandarban tourist deaths
  • Infographic: TBS
    Chattogram Port proposes 70%-100% tariff hike
  • Fighter jet. Photo: AFP
    3 F-35 fighter jets downed, two Israeli pilots in custody, claims Iranian media
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Merger of 5 Islamic banks at final stage: BB governor
  • Infograph: TBS
    Why 10 economic zones, including BGMEA's garment park, were cancelled

Related News

  • Suchinta Foundation's Ctg division leader Zeenat Sohana detained
  • 54 held over attack on Hasnat’s vehicle in Gazipur
  • Swechasebak Dal leader detained over alleged theft of RMG goods worth Tk28 lakh from Benapole port
  • 14, including SAD coordinator, arrested for Kalabagan office attack
  • 60 detained as joint forces raid Haji Mazar slum in Gazipur

Features

Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

10h | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

2d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

4d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

6h | TBS World
Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

6h | Others
Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

7h | TBS World
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

7h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net