Kim Aris has conducted a concerted campaign for the release of his mother, Aung San Suu Kyi, ever since she was detained in early 2021, when Myanmar’s military ousted her elected government and tipped the country into a bloody civil war.

Her meeting last month with an official from the International Committee for the Red Cross, following Kim’s Proof of Life campaign, did little to calm fears for the Nobel laureate’s health and safety amid claims that the meeting was staged, and at this point her whereabouts remain a closely guarded secret.

Kim Aris spoke to The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about his mother’s fate, the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile, and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) battling it out with the military in a conflict that has now killed more than 100,000 people.

He also talks about the recent diplomatic tour by the regime’s president Min Aung Hlaing to neighboring countries and his administration, which he described as a “parody of democracy,” since one-sided elections were held in January.

“Sometimes I think that a parody of democracy could be more dangerous than a blatant dictatorship, because that gives people an opportunity to avoid doing anything about it,” he said.

“Min Aung Hlaing claimed that Myanmar remains on the path to democracy. That’s just a calculated attempt to pacify domestic resistance and offer foreign governments an easy diplomatic off-ramp to normalize relations or justify inaction.”

He also discussed the recently formed Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union, which combines the NUG, key EAOs, and parliamentary bodies, describing it as an important step toward a genuine federal democracy in Myanmar.