Aung San Suu Kyi Meets ICRC Delegate Amid Concerns Over Health

Naypyidaw: Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday, in what appeared to be her first publicly disclosed meeting with a foreign official in several years.

The meeting came amid growing international concern over the health and wellbeing of the 81-year-old, who has been held by Myanmar’s military since the 2021 coup that removed her elected government from power.

A photograph released by the military-backed government showed Suu Kyi, dressed in traditional Burmese attire, smiling and shaking hands with the ICRC’s resident representative in Myanmar.

The ICRC confirmed that one of its delegates met Suu Kyi under its procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty. The organisation said the visit included an opportunity for the delegate to speak with her privately and enabled her to exchange news with her family.

Suu Kyi’s whereabouts and condition have largely remained undisclosed since the military takeover. Her detention coincided with the outbreak of a civil war involving the military, pro-democracy resistance groups and ethnic armed organisations. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

The meeting followed calls by Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, for the military authorities to provide proof that she was alive amid reports of deteriorating health.

Aris welcomed the ICRC visit but said he had yet to receive independent confirmation of his mother’s condition.

“This may be a first step, but it must not be the last,” he said, expressing hope that the meeting would eventually lead to direct contact with her.

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted on charges including bribery, incitement and violations of Covid-19 restrictions. Her closed-door trials have been widely criticised as politically motivated.