Myanmar’s Junta Cries Foul as Kim Aris Pleads For Proof His Mother Is Alive

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Rights groups say ASEAN and the international community must have direct access to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Flags from the 11 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the plenary session of the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, May 8, 2026.

As ASEAN leaders were prepping for last weekend’s annual summit in Cebu, French President Emmanuel Macron was filing away a letter from Kim Aris, the son of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It was a plea for help. Forty-eight-year-old Aris just wants proof that his mother is still alive.

He wants Macron to at least encourage the junta and its newly anointed president, Min Aung Hlaing, to offer a bit more than glib statements regarding his mother after her apparent move from prison to a “designated residence” somewhere in Naypyidaw.