Foreign ministers from the Southeast Asian bloc known as ASEAN received assurances Sunday from their Myanmar counterpart that former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held in detention since a military coup in 2021, is healthy and will be cared for. The update came from ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar following a diplomatic meeting in Bangkok.
Maria Theresa Lazaro, the Philippine foreign minister serving as ASEAN’s special envoy, has been pushing for direct access to Suu Kyi, who is 81 years old. Lazaro relayed what she heard from Myanmar’s foreign minister at a press conference, saying: “My recollection of the statement of the Myanmar foreign minister on Aung San Suu Kyi is that she’s in good health and that the premise of how he said this is that she is a relative, she’s a sister and therefore we will take care of her.”
Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence, which was recently reduced by one-third. She was convicted on multiple charges — including incitement, corruption, election fraud, and violating state secrets laws — charges that her supporters say were invented to remove her from the political arena. Suu Kyi has maintained her innocence.
Sunday’s gathering marked the first time in years that the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations held an in-person meeting with a Myanmar representative at the foreign minister level, since the country’s military leadership was barred from top-tier ASEAN gatherings following the coup. The exclusion stemmed from Myanmar’s failure to follow through on a “five-point consensus” peace agreement it had reached with the bloc.
The ongoing civil war in Myanmar has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and forced several million people from their homes.
Since April, Myanmar has been governed by a nominally civilian administration that took shape after elections earlier this year. Former military chief Min Aung Hlaing now holds the presidency and has been working to rebuild ties with ASEAN.
The exact location where Suu Kyi is being held remains unknown, though Lazaro previously indicated she had been moved to a “designated location,” offering no further details.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow confirmed that Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe fielded pointed questions during Sunday’s informal Bangkok session about the condition of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. “We also made our comment that if the ASEAN special envoy could be given the opportunity to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, that would be even better so that we can be able to verify the claims that the foreign minister made,” he said, using a Myanmar honorific to refer to her.
