Son of Aung San Suu Kyi: 'first positive sign' after Red Cross official meets detained former leader in Myanmar

Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, after years of questions over the health and well-being of the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, Resident Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Myanmar in the capital Naypyitaw, government spokeswoman Khine Khine Soe said in a message via Telegram.

In a statement, the ICRC confirmed a delegate had met with Suu Kyi, without naming the official.

"The visit was carried out in accordance with the ICRC’s standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty. This included the opportunity to speak with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in private," it said, using an honorific for the veteran politician.

Suu Kyi has been in detention since February 2021 when an elected civilian government led by her was ousted by Myanmar's military in a dawn coup, plunging the impoverished Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.

Since then, Suu Kyi's exact whereabouts and health conditions have been difficult to determine, with no foreign leader or envoy having publicly met her.

Photographs provided by the government spokeswoman showed Suu Kyi, dressed in traditional Burmese attire, meeting de Baecque in a sparsely furnished, wood-panelled room with two chairs and a desk.

Another photograph offered a rare glimpse inside what appeared to be her residence, showing Suu Kyi cutting a birthday cake inscribed with her name.

A fourth close-up showed the cake with the words “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu 29.6.2026”.

Reuters could not independently verify the location or the date when the pictures were taken, and found no earlier version of the images posted online before Monday.

Suu Kyi's son said on Monday that a visit by a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross was the first positive development concerning her in more than five years.

"This may be a first step, but it must not be the last," Kim Aris said in a statement, adding he has not yet received independent confirmation of his mother's condition or wellbeing.

House arrest and political context

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted of multiple offences on charges her allies say were politically motivated.

Authorities said in late April, after a military-engineered election that allowed former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become Myanmar's president, that she had been moved to house arrest.

Her sentence was also commuted by one-sixth as part of an amnesty for thousands of prisoners that also saw the release of her ally, former President Win Myint.

The new military-backed administration has so far been reluctant to provide access to Suu Kyi, including a May request by the Philippines to allow a special envoy of the ASEAN bloc to meet her.

Myanmar's junta said last December that Suu Kyi was in good health, after her son told Reuters he had received little information about his mother's condition and had not heard from her in years, fearing she could die without him knowing.

Read more:

• Detained Myanmar ex-leader Suu Kyi to meet legal team this weekend
• Myanmar’s new leader Min Aung Hlaing calls for unity as he seeks to end isolation
• Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing elected president after parliamentary vote

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Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi Red Cross ICRC Min Aung Hlaing ASEAN house arrest Nobel Peace Prize