Myanmar Refuses ASEAN Envoy Access to Aung San Suu Kyi

The Myanmar government has refused a request for an ASEAN special envoy to meet detained former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military plunged the nation into civil war in 2021 when it staged a coup that ousted the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. After five years of military rule, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing stepped down as head of the armed forces this year. He assumed the presidency following a tightly restricted election that excluded Suu Kyi’s party. In late April, he announced that Suu Kyi, now 81, would be moved to house arrest. However, analysts viewed the move as a superficial gesture aimed at softening the regime’s ruthless image. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), through its current chair the Philippines, welcomed the change in Suu Kyi’s detention status and requested brief access for its special envoy to Myanmar. The junta denied the request. “Aung San Suu Kyi has been tried according to the law and is serving her sentence,” said presidential spokesperson Khaing Khaing Soe. “Therefore, she is not allowed to meet with international representatives.” Suu Kyi has disappeared from public view and is serving lengthy prison terms on charges widely condemned by rights groups as politically motivated. “Only after her sentence is completed might she be granted permission,” Khaing Khaing Soe told a press conference. The Philippine foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ASEAN has barred Myanmar’s junta from its summits since the coup. The bloc’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Manila late next month. “If they invite us, we will attend,” the presidential spokesperson said.