Fears for welfare of man in Myanmar
THERE are fears for a former Dunedin man, now a vicepresident of Myanmar, as the country’s military takes control.
Henry Van Thio was sworn in as second vicepresident in 2016.
He lived in Dunedin from 2011 until 2015 and had worked at Silver Fern Farms’ Finegand freezing works while his wife Anna Sui studied towards a PhD at the University of Otago.
His whereabouts had been unknown in the wake of Myanmar’s military seizing control in a coup on Monday.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy party in early morning raids, the day before the new government was to be formed.
Yesterday afternoon, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the ministry was closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar, and understood Mr Van Thio was not on the current list of officials detained by the military.
It had no further information about his welfare, she said.
A friend of the family, Rev Richard Dawson, of Dunedin’s Leith Valley Presbyterian Church, said he understood they were safe.
The church community in
Dunedin was very concerned, and was praying for them every day, he said.
The pair were very involved in the church community during their time in New Zealand, he said.
He visited Mr Van Thio and his family in Myanmar this time last year.
At that time, he said Mr Van Thio had done a huge amount of work to bring order to the needs of the country.
‘‘To have this happen now on the eve of a new government is a tragedy,’’ he said.
‘‘Who knows where this will go?’’