Moreh: Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the military-backed government announced on Monday.
The meeting, held in the capital Naypyidaw, is believed to be her first confirmed interaction with a foreign official in several years. A photograph released by the junta shows the 81-year-old Suu Kyi, dressed in traditional Burmese attire, smiling and shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque, the ICRC’s Resident Representative to Myanmar.
The development comes amid mounting international concern over Suu Kyi’s health and prolonged secret detention. She has been held incommunicado since the military ousted her democratically elected government in February 2021.
Since the coup, Myanmar has plunged into a deadly civil war, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced as pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups battle the military junta.
The Red Cross meeting follows a global “proof of life” campaign launched by her son, Kim Aris, who had publicly stated he feared his mother may have died in custody. In April, he said, “I still do not know where my mother is. I do not know how she is.”
The junta also released two additional photos, published by Reuters, which it claims show Suu Kyi celebrating her 81st birthday on June 19, cutting a cake that reads “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu.” CNN said it could not independently verify the images.
Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year prison sentence handed down by a closed-door military court on charges ranging from corruption to violating COVID-19 rules, a trial widely condemned as a sham.
Analysts believe the timing is strategic. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is scheduled to visit Thailand on August 6 for talks with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Choosing the ICRC allows the junta to address health concerns without granting formal diplomatic access.
On July 12, Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers met Myanmar’s Foreign Minister in Bangkok for the first time since the coup, where they were reportedly told Suu Kyi was in “good health.”
The ICRC has not yet commented on the meeting.
