Kim Aris, the son of imprisoned former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has made a heartfelt plea to be allowed to see his elderly mother again, as she remains in custody.
"My father died without being able to see my mother again because she was incarcerated at the time," Aris told NPR. "I simply want to be able to see her again and know that she's okay."
Kim's father, British scholar Michael Aris, died of prostate cancer on his 53rd birthday in London in 1999. Myanmar's then military junta denied him a visa for a final visit, and Suu Kyi refused to leave the country, fearing the generals would prevent her return.
Now 80, the Nobel Laureate has been held in detention since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, toppling the democratically elected government she led. Suu Kyi was sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of corruption and electoral fraud, which have been widely condemned as unfair. She has been banned from contact with the outside world.
On Thursday, Myanmar's current military junta claimed it had transferred her from prison to house arrest – an announcement that was met with skepticism by Suu Kyi's family, who said they have no proof that it is true.
Aris said he has had almost no contact with his mother since her arrest – just one single censored letter, received nearly three years ago. In it, Suu Kyi said little beyond describing the changing seasons from her cell in Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw – from the discomforts of the cold in winter, to the summer heat.
"Right now, I just tell her that I love her and we all miss her a great deal and that we hope that she's well," Aris said, when asked what he would say to her if he had the chance.
Health fears
Over the past five years, Aris said the family has received troubling reports about her health, including a possible worsening heart condition. "I know that she will not be receiving the treatment that she needs whilst incarcerated in a prison in Burma," he said, using the former name for Myanmar.
Aris said the announcement of Suu Kyi's move from prison to house arrest has done little to reassure him. The location of his mother's new residence has not been disclosed, and the state media broadcast was accompanied by an undated video still of a smiling Suu Kyi seated alongside two officers. Observers have questioned whether the image is recent.
"The military have used these sorts of tactics time and time again for decades now," Aris said, adding that until an independent body is able to verify her condition and whereabouts, "I can't trust anything that has been said."
Nay Phone Latt, spokesperson for Myanmar's parallel anti-junta administration, the National Unity Government, shared that skepticism. He told NPR they have been unable to confirm Suu Kyi's location.
"The military junta is treating her like a hostage," he said. "They are planning to exchange her release for international recognition."
Suu Kyi's legal team has attempted to meet her since the announcement – so far without success, according to local media. Myanmar outlet The Irrawaddy reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had been permitted to meet Suu Kyi during a visit on 25 April, with participants reportedly barred from taking notes or recordings.
Contested election
Earlier this year, Myanmar completed its third and final round of voting in a general election, a process which has been widely called a sham by international observers. It was won by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Last month, after that election, Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup, arranged for himself to be sworn in as president. The coup triggered a devastating civil war that has left tens of thousands dead and over 3.5 million people displaced within Myanmar.
Thomas Kean, a senior consultant on Myanmar at the International Crisis Group, said that Suu Kyi's recent transfer from prison was a calculated move linked to the recent election. By shifting Suu Kyi to house arrest, the junta is trying to signal that its "supposedly elected administration is different from the junta that seized power in 2021, which kept her in prison," he said.
Before her arrest, Suu Kyi had led the National League for Democracy party. After she was ousted, some lawmakers from Suu Kyi's party formed the National Unity Government (NUG) to oppose the coup. Often described as Myanmar's shadow government, the NUG has struggled to combat a resurging junta.
Kean said that Suu Kyi's transfer to supposed house arrest is also an attempt to normalize relations with Myanmar's international partners, and potentially use the country's former leader to undermine the NUG, which derives its legitimacy in part from having her as a nominal leader.
"It is very unlikely that she will have much freedom under house arrest," Kean said.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing remains wary of her influence, he explained, and will likely only allow select international visitors to meet her "until he feels he's in a much stronger position."
Years in captivity
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent long periods of her life imprisoned. The daughter of Aung San, a key figure in the independence from British rule, she became active in politics in the late 1980s, attempting to overthrow a previous military junta. However, she then spent many years imprisoned, but remained politically active, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Kean said the current situation differs from a previous period of imprisonment around 15 years ago, when under the Than Shwe regime, Suu Kyi was also under house arrest but able to occasionally meet visiting dignitaries. She was released in November 2010, just days after an election, and promptly returned to politics.
This time, Kean said, the constraints are far tighter. "She'll be kept on a very short leash, so it's hardly a concession," he said. "This is far more tightly controlled, reflecting that Min Aung Hlaing's administration is in a much weaker position."
As Myanmar's civil war grinds on, the military has continued to seek international legitimacy. It signed an agreement with Washington lobbying firm DCI Group in July 2025 for nearly $3 million a year to help improve relations. Federal documents show that longtime political operative and Trump ally Roger Stone has since joined DCI's effort, at $50,000 per month.
Aris stands against business with the junta. "Until my mother and all the other political prisoners have been freed and the military stopped bombing its own people, people should not be trying to do business with them," he said.
Rohingya accusations
Suu Kyi remains a beloved figure for many inside Myanmar, though her international standing took a severe blow after 2017, when she appeared before the International Court of Justice to defend the country against genocide allegations stemming from military atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority – a bloody campaign that drove 700,000 to 750,000 Rohingya to flee from Rakhine State to what's now the world's largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh.
A UN fact-finding mission said Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government "contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes" by denying abuses, blocking independent investigators, and defending the military's conduct, while placing primary responsibility on the military.
Defending his mother, Suu Kyi's son Kim Aris told NPR: "People misinterpreted what she was saying a great deal." "She was saying and doing a great deal more for the Rohingya than anybody else was," he said.
"If her government had been allowed to blossom and democracy had been allowed to develop, that would have been the best course for the Rohingya," Aris claimed. "Unfortunately, the military managed to stage this coup and weaken her position beforehand. So this is the result that we see."
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