The family of Dr Sean Turnell, an Australian advisor to former Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has been detained after Myanmar's military coup has released a statement detailing the support they are receiving and the pain they are going through.

It reads:

“We are distraught that Dr Sean Turnell, our beloved family member and an internationally respected academic, has been detained in Myanmar.

Sean Turnell is a dedicated family man, beloved of his wife and daughter, his dad and his sister and her family, as well as to an extended family in Australia and in Vietnam.

He is warm and kind-hearted, generous, and always thinks about others before himself. Even now, wherever he is confined, we know that his thoughts and concerns are with those worrying about him.

Sean has read voraciously since his youth and has always shown a thirst for knowledge. He is a practical economist who has and will always use his expertise and experience for a good cause. Myanmar is a country with which he has fallen in love, and through working on and for it for more than two decades, he brought jobs, investment, and hope to many of the poorest people there without thought of reward or concern for his own advantage.

The Australian Embassy in Yangon has provided strong support to Sean, in very challenging circumstances. We are in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which is working tirelessly to bring Sean home. We welcome the calls by the Australian Government, other Governments, and by Sean’s many friends around the world, seeking his immediate release.

We ask that the media respect both Sean’s and our privacy while we concentrate on getting Sean released. Given the complex and sensitive situation in Myanmar at present, we will not be making any further public comment at this time."

Have you been following the situation in Myanmar? Do you think the country will ever find peace and stable leadership and democracy?