By Benedict Rogers in UCA News.
Myanmar’s democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi turns 80 today.
She should be nearing the end of her second term in government and considering retirement. Instead, she languishes in a prison cell, serving a 27-year sentence unjustly imposed for multiple trumped-up charges.
The outside world receives almost zero news about her plight and condition, causing pain and worry for her family and the population who love her.
In November 2020, Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won re-election with an overwhelming majority. She had already served five years as de facto head of government after her victory in 2015, which led to a power-sharing agreement with the military.
Myanmar appeared to be continuing on the path of political reform begun by the former general, Thein Sein, in 2011, in which space opened up for civil society, independent media and fragile democratization.
All that ended on Feb. 1, 2021, when army chief General Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a coup, arresting and jailing Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other key NLD leaders. The NLD was banned, and at least 27 members of parliament have been killed by the military.
Over the past four years, 29,254 people have been arrested and imprisoned, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. At least 22,115 political prisoners remain in jail today.
Concerns about Suu Kyi’s health in custody are growing. It is believed that the conditions in which she is held are poor, with no access to proper medical care. Although she endured a cumulative total of 15 years in three separate periods under house arrest between 1989 and 2010, her plight now is far worse.
During her years under house arrest, she was at least in the comfort of her own home, confined but with access to books, radio and her beloved piano, and supported by her personal staff.
Today, she is in prison, denied access to her lawyers and with almost no contact with the outside world. Her son, Kim Aris, has only received one letter from her in the past four years.
Suu Kyi’s plight is a tragedy in itself — but it is also symbolic of the suffering of an entire country torn apart by conflict, natural disaster, economic collapse and brutal repression.
As a consequence of the military regime’s continuing attacks on civilians, over four million people are displaced, over 100,000 homes and thousands more hospitals, schools and places of worship have been destroyed. Over two-thirds of the population — 40 million people — exist below the poverty line, and nearly 20 million desperately require life-saving humanitarian assistance.
The devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on March 28 this year has claimed more than 5,000 lives and destroyed a further 100,000 homes. Compounding the crisis, the military — despite repeated declarations of a nationwide ceasefire — continues to attack civilians. Since the earthquake, the junta has conducted almost 400 airstrikes on villages, schools, and places of refuge.
The international community must urgently step up its efforts to bring this long-forgotten human rights and humanitarian crisis to an end.
As the former colonial power, the United Kingdom has a moral responsibility to lead global action, but it must co-ordinate efforts with the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and urge key actors in the region — especially the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) — to do more.
More must be done to cut the lifelines that keep the illegal military dictatorship alive. That means greater efforts to implement robust, targeted sanctions aimed at cutting the flow of funds to the regime. It means measures to block the flow of arms and action to impede the junta’s access to aviation fuel, which would hinder its ability to continue its devastating airstrikes. And it means greater efforts to hold the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to account.
Pressure must also be increased on the junta’s two main enablers, China and Russia. These two powers provide the regime with diplomatic backing, economic support and the tools of repression, including weapons and surveillance systems. They should be sanctioned for complicity in the regime’s daily crimes against its own population.
The international community must also find ways to provide an urgently needed lifeline to the people of Myanmar, increasing humanitarian aid but channeling it through local community organisations and cross-border delivery, rather than through the military.
And the Church must also step up. Pope Francis showed an unprecedented and continuous concern for Myanmar, praying regularly and publicly for the country. In 2017, he became the first pontiff to visit Myanmar and received Suu Kyi in Rome during her time as leader of the Myanmar government. Last year, he met her son and called for her release and offered her sanctuary in the Vatican.
Pope Leo XIV called for peace in Myanmar during his inaugural Mass last month as he prayed the Regina Caeli. Let us hope that is a sign that he will continue the interest his predecessor showed in Myanmar, and use his pontificate to shine a continuing light on the country and be a voice for justice and freedom.
If she serves her full sentence, Suu Kyi will without doubt die in jail. So today, as she turns 80, let us all renew our efforts to secure her freedom and the freedom of her country. Let us pray for her and for all 22,000 political prisoners, and for the displaced, the wounded, the grieving and the persecuted. And let us resolve that Myanmar must be forgotten no more.
This article was originally published in UCA News.