Myanmar’s UK envoy ‘glad he did not cave to brutal junta’

BRITAIN’S ambassador to Myanmar has said he has no regrets after being ejected by the ruling junta for refusing to present his ambassadorial credentials to the military regime.

“My time in Myanmar comes to an abrupt end today. Sad and sorry to have been forced by the junta to leave but glad we didn’t cave to pressure to legitimise their brutal coup,” Pete Vowles said last week.

“I know the strong embassy team will continue to stand up and do everything we can for the people of Myanmar who want nothing more than peace, freedom and justice.”

For months, Mr Vowles and the Foreign Office faced a diplomatic stand-off with Myanmar’s military rulers after London decided to downgrade relations with the south-east Asian nation.

To avoid granting the regime international credibility, in March he was designated chargé d’affaires ad interim, a lower rank of diplomat who serves as an embassy’s chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador.

Myanmar is ruled by military generals who seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021 before cracking down on anyone opposing them.

More than 2,500 civilians have been killed by the military since the coup, over one million displaced and some 11,000 detained, according to the latest assessment by Tom Andrews, UN envoy for human rights in Myanmar.

In an interview with Frontier Myanmar, Mr Vowles said he was “heartbroken” to be leaving, but acknowledged that “of course, my situation is nothing compared to all those Myanmar citizens who’ve had to flee their homes or who are in exile or in hiding”.

He said the coup had been a “clear miscalculation” by the military, adding: “They may well have underestimated the strength of the Myanmar people’s desire for democracy.”

The ambassador said that while the UK supported the “National Unity Government” – a parallel democratic government set up to oppose the military – it did not back armed resistance.

“[The] solution will need to be a political one, not a military one,” he said.

Myanmar’s government denied that Mr Vowles had been forced to leave.

The foreign ministry said he had refused to present his credentials and that it did not accept the downgrading of diplomatic ties, telling London to send an alternative candidate.

Earlier this year, Mr Vowles was temporarily locked out of the country but the foreign ministry said it had allowed him to re-enter until last Friday to retrieve his belongings.