Beyond the Mekong | Politics | Southeast Asia

Kim Aris On the Campaign to Free Aung San Suu Kyi

As Myanmar’s “parody democracy” seeks regional re-engagement, the whereabouts of the Nobel laureate remain a closely guarded secret.

Kim Aris poses in front of a portrait of his mother, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kim Aris has conducted a concerted campaign for the release of his mother, Aung San Suu Kyi, ever since she was detained in early 2021, when Myanmar’s military ousted her elected government and tipped the country into a bloody civil war.

Her meeting last month with an official from the International Committee for the Red Cross, following Kim’s Proof of Life campaign, did little to calm fears for the Nobel laureate’s health and safety amid claims that the meeting was staged, and at this point her whereabouts remain a closely guarded secret.

Kim Aris spoke to The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about his mother’s fate, the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile, and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) battling it out with the military in a conflict that has now killed more than 100,000 people.

He also talks about the recent diplomatic........

© The Diplomat