Sources close to the regime in Naypyidaw told DVB that administration officials were ordered to monitor any public campaigns across the country, or online, to mark the 80th birthday of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday.
“This order applies nationwide, not just to Yangon. Intelligence officials will monitor every street in plain clothes,” the source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The source added that anyone wearing flowers or blue shirts — a symbol of prison uniforms — will be subject to scrutiny.
Over the last four years, people inside Myanmar and abroad have participated in an online “Flower Strike” on June 19 to raise awareness about Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention. She’s been held by the regime since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Foreign embassies and delegations in Myanmar — including those of the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., Norway, and the Netherlands — marked her birthday by changing their profile pictures or posting birthday messages on social media on Thursday.
“On this occasion, we reiterate our call for the military regime to release her and all those unjustly detained, cease violence against civilians, and engage in dialogue with all stakeholders to end the crisis,” the U.S. embassy in Yangon shared on social media on June 19.
Aung San Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence in the capital Naypyidaw. The Suu Foundation announced on Wednesday that she reportedly injured her left arm during the March 28 earthquake, which damaged her prison cell.
The Suu 80th Birthday Campaign announced on social media that it had reached its goal of receiving 80,000 video birthday wishes for Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday.
This campaign is part of the Suu80 Challenge — an 80 km run over 10 days to raise awareness about her imprisonment since the 2021 coup by her youngest son Kim Aris.
“This e-birthday wish record is a powerful testament to [my mother’s] global support. It is my hope this achievement brings urgent attention to her plight and that of the people of Burma. Her voice may be silenced but her flame will never be extinguished,” Aris told DVB.
Last month, Aris received the Citizen of Burma Award on Aung San Suu Kyi’s behalf in the U.S., where he raised $400,000 USD for the Suu 80th Birthday Campaign earlier this year. Funds raised by the Suu80 Challenge will go toward supporting the families of 22,142 political prisoners in Myanmar, as well as to emergency humanitarian relief, via Aris’ organization Aid2Burma.
