Embassy of the United States, Yangon

The Embassy of the United States in Yangon represents the official diplomatic mission of the American government in Myanmar (Burma), provides assistance to American citizens and issues visas to foreign nationals, for the purposes of visiting and immigration.

Embassy of the United States in Yangon
LocationYangon, Myanmar
Address110 University Avenue Road, Kamayut Township
Coordinates16.82543°N 96.14473°E / 16.82543; 96.14473
AmbassadorScot Marciel[1]
Websitemm.usembassy.gov

Location

The American Embassy was formerly located in Downtown Yangon, on Merchant Street between 33rd Street and 34th Street, facing the Independence Monument park and Yangon City Hall on the other side of the park. Sule Pagoda was one block north on the west side of the park. The building was formerly a Bank in a 45,437 square feet (4,221.2 m2) colonial-era structure.[2] In August 2007, the embassy moved to new premises further from Downtown, because of security concerns at the old site.[3] From 2001 to 2005, as a consequence of the September 11 attacks, roadblocks and security barriers were placed in front the building, to seal off traffic.[4]

The new embassy site, located on University Avenue Road in Yangon's Kamayut Township, facing Inya Lake, was reportedly constructed at the cost of $60 million USD.[5]

Controversy

According to WikiLeaks cables, the embassy funded some of the civil society groups in Burma that forced the government to suspend a controversial Chinese Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy river.[6] According to media reports citing documents published by Germany's Der Spiegel in 2010, the embassy is the site of an electronic surveillance facility used to monitor telephones and communications networks, run jointly by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency group known as Special Collection Service.[7]

gollark: Your "solution" of adjusting stuff on VCS hooks is insane and apious.
gollark: And DO NOT mandate a VCS.
gollark: BEE YOU, requiring VCS hooks is bad.
gollark: I will literally fork Macron and implement "beeoids".
gollark: Macron should NOT constrain editor choice.

References
  1. http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/04/05/names_derek_mitchell_to_be_named_ambassador_to_burma
  2. "East Asia and the Pacific Properties (EAP)". US Department of State. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  3. Janssen, Peter (30 March 2007). "Foreign missions left in the dark in old capital – Peter Janssen". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  4. "Myanmar authorities remove roadblocks from front of U.S. Embassy". Associated Press. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  5. Thet Khaing (3 September 2007). "Construction boom leads to quality concerns". Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  6. "WikiLeaks cables: Americans funded groups that stalled Burma dam project". The Guardian. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  7. Tim McLaughlin and Nyan Lynn Aung (31 October 2013). "US embassy in Yangon a secret listening post: Snowden". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.