Junta-Ruled Myanmar Not Invited to Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral
By The Irrawaddy 14 September 2022
Myanmar, Russia and Belarus have not been invited to Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral next Monday which will see more than 100 kings, queens, heads of state and other VIPs attend, Reuters reported, citing a Whitehall source.
Britain has imposed sanctions against Myanmar and its military as London steps up support for the Southeast Asian country’s Rohingya community.
At the same time, diplomatic relations between the two countries hit a record low this year with the junta’s recent jailing of the country’s former British ambassador and her husband.
Furthermore, the regime expelled the head of the UK Embassy in July after he declined to present his credentials to the regime.
Britain recently imposed sanctions against a company run by the junta chief’s son, aiming at impacting a case currently before the International Court of Justice to determine whether the Myanmar military committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
Britain and other Western countries have sought to isolate Russia and its ally Belarus on the world stage with economic sanctions and other measures in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Elizabeth II’s funeral at Westminster Abbey next week is set to be a huge diplomatic event that poses major security and protocol challenges for organizers at Buckingham Palace and in the British government.
US President Joe Biden has confirmed he will attend, and has reportedly been given permission to arrive in his armored presidential limousine, known as The Beast, AFP reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, who is expected to make the occasion his first foreign trip since ascending the throne in 2019, will also attend.
