Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, a government spokesperson said, amid mounting concerns over the 81-year-old’s health.

Ms Suu Kyi has been in detention since February 2021 when Myanmar's military ousted an elected civilian government led by her in a coup, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.

Since then, Ms Suu Kyi's exact whereabouts and health conditions have been difficult to determine, with no foreign leader or envoy having publicly met her.

On Monday, Ms Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the Red Cross to Myanmar, in the capital, Naypyidaw government spokesperson, Khine Khine Soe, said in a Telegram message.

The Independent has reached out to Red Cross for comment.

In late April, following a military-engineered election that allowed former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become Myanmar's president and amid growing international pressure, authorities said that she had been moved to house arrest.

On 30 April, state media released a picture of Ms Suu Kyi, seated on a wooden bench, speaking with two unidentified uniformed officials. But the veracity of that image soon came into question, prompting Ms Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, to reiterate his demand for authorities to “show proof of life”.

“More than five years after the coup, there is still no credible, independently verified proof that my mother is alive,” Mr Aris, 48, wrote on Facebook at the time.

“Moving my mother, an 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from one secret place to another is not freedom. She remains a hostage,” he added. “Show proof of life.”

When authorities announced Ms Suu Kyi had been moved from her secret prison to house arrest, he said, “they expected the world to look away”.

“Since then, we have repeatedly asked, where she is, how she is and whether she is OK,” Mr Aris said.

Recently, Mr Aris said he was disappointed by India rolling out the red carpet for Mr Min, calling on the world’s largest democracy to stand on the side of human rights.

Mr Aris is campaigning for the release of his mother who was sentenced to 33 years in prison following trials that were criticised outside the country for lack of due process. Her sentence was reduced to 18 years under a pair of prisoner amnesty schemes earlier this year and she was moved from solitary confinement to house arrest.