Son of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi demands proof of life from military government

The son of Myanmar's famous pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is asking the country's military government to prove that his mother is still alive. Kim Aris, who lives in London, says he has seen no evidence that she has been moved from prison. Myanmar's military claimed in April that she had been transferred to house arrest, but Aris does not believe it. He says there has not been any evidence of a transfer.

Suu Kyi is one of the most well-known political leaders in the world. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and spent many years fighting for democracy in Myanmar. She was placed under house arrest multiple times between 1989 and 2010, spending about 15 years under detention. In 2016, her party won elections and she became her country's top leader.

In February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in what is called a coup. Suu Kyi was removed from power and arrested. She is now 81 years old and has been locked up ever since. The last time Kim Aris heard from her was in a letter he received more than two years ago.

Aris, who is 48 years old, was born and raised in London. His mother left when he was about 11 years old to care for her own mother in Myanmar. She then became involved in the fight for democracy there, and the two were separated for many years. His father, a British academic, raised him while his mother was far away.

Aris says he has received information about the prison where his mother may still be held. Based on what a former prisoner told him, the conditions there are very bad. He also says Suu Kyi is dealing with a heart condition and other health problems related to her age, including osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones. He says the only news he gets about her health is that it keeps getting worse.

To draw attention to his mother's situation, Aris recently completed an 81-kilometer skateboard marathon. He did it to mark her 81st birthday in June and to raise awareness about her time in prison. He has also traveled to several countries, including Japan, to ask governments to push for her release. He says he would rather not be in the public eye, but feels he must speak out for her.

Aris is also calling on other countries to take stronger action against Myanmar's military. He wants the world to cut off fuel supplies to the military so that it cannot carry out airstrikes against its own people. A civil war has been going on in Myanmar since the 2021 coup, with pro-democracy forces fighting against the military government. Aris hopes that international pressure will eventually help free his mother and bring peace to Myanmar.