The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was denied its requests for it and prisoners’ family members to be allowed to visit prisons according to a 20 June statement by the Military Council.

According to the statement the request was made by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director for the Asia Pacific, Christine Cipolla, during her visit to Myanmar from 15-18 June.

The request was made in the course of meetings that she had with various State Administration Council (SAC) ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Health.

Ms Cipolla called for the earliest possible resumption of ICRC and family visits for prisoners.

She said: ''Capitalizing on the recent improvement of the COVID-19 situation and at a time of growing concerns and distress of families of detainees, I asked for the gradual resumption of our humanitarian visits and underlined the importance of allowing families to be in contact with their loved ones in prison as soon as possible.''

Despite the refusal of her request Ms Cipolla said that the ICRC is determined to continue its action in support of detained people and their families.

In her statement she also called on the Military Council to facilitate humanitarian responses in Chin, Karenni, Rakhine and Karen States, as well as in Magwe and Sagaing regions, including in areas controlled by ethnic armed organisations (EAOs).

Visitors have been barred from prisons since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the bar continued after the military coup on 1 February 2021 and it has continued until now.